People v. Carter CA4/2

INTRODUCTION

In 1995, among other crimes, a jury convicted defendant and appellant Jermaine 1 Cornelius Carter of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187) with true findings on the

special circumstance allegation that the murder occurred during a robbery (§ 190.2,

subd. (a)(17)) and the special circumstance of multiple murder (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3)).

The jury also convicted defendant of second degree murder, during which he used a

handgun (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)). Defendant was sentenced to life without the possibility

of parole.

In 2019, defendant filed a petition to vacate his murder convictions under

section 1172.6 (formerly section 1170.95),2 which was enacted by the Legislature

through its passage of Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 2018,

ch. 1015). The trial court denied the petition, finding Senate Bill No. 1437

unconstitutional and, alternatively, concluding defendant was ineligible for relief as a

matter of law based on the jury’s special circumstance finding (first degree murder) and

because defendant was the actual killer (second degree murder).

1 All future references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.

2 Effective June 30,…