People v. Ortega CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 2004, a jury convicted defendant Daniel Justin Ortega of first degree murder and found true felony-murder special-circumstance allegations pursuant to Penal Code section 190.2 that the murders were committed during the commission or attempted commission of robbery, kidnapping, and carjacking. (Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.) Following the passage of Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill 1437), defendant filed a petition for resentencing, asserting he was entitled to resentencing under the new laws. The court denied defendant’s petition, finding he was ineligible for relief. We previously affirmed the court’s order in an unpublished opinion, concluding the record established defendant was ineligible for resentencing as a matter of law based on the true findings on the special circumstance allegations. Defendant petitioned for review. The California Supreme Court granted and held the petition and deferred action pending its consideration and disposition in People v. Strong (2022) 13 Cal.5th 698 (Strong). It then transferred the case back to us with directions for our court to vacate our decision and reconsider the cause…