People v. Taylor CA5

INTRODUCTION

* Before Levy, Acting P. J., Detjen, J. and Smith, J. In 2001, a jury convicted petitioner Tramell Vernon Taylor of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a), count 2).1 As to the murder offense, the jury found true the special circumstance that petitioner committed the murder while engaged in the commission or attempted commission of robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A)).2 The trial court subsequently sentenced petitioner to a term of life without the possibility of parole. (People v. Taylor et al. (Oct. 14, 2003, F039096) [nonpub. opn.] (Taylor).) In 2019, petitioner filed a petition for resentencing on his murder conviction pursuant to former section 1170.95 (now § 1172.6).3 The trial court summarily denied the petition without providing a statement of reasons. On appeal, petitioner contended the jury’s special circumstance finding could not establish his ineligibility for resentencing as a matter of law because his conviction predated our Supreme Court’s decisions in Banks/Clark,4 which clarified the meaning of “major participant” and “reckless indifference to human life.”5 We affirmed the trial court’s denial of resentencing. (People v. Taylor (June…