People v. Hernandez CA4/2

BACKGROUND

In 2007, a jury convicted Hernandez of one count of first degree murder (§ 187,

subd. (a)) and found that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm and

proximately caused great bodily injury or death to another person who was not an

accomplice (§§ 12022.53, subd. (d)). Effective January 1, 2019, the Legislature enacted

Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) (Stats. 2018, ch. 1015, § 4), which

eliminated natural and probable consequences liability for murder, narrowed the

definition of first degree felony murder, and created a procedure for vacating prior

murder, attempted murder, and manslaughter convictions that could not be sustained

under the new law. (People v. Gentile (2020) 10 Cal.5th 830, 843, 847, superseded by

statute on another ground as stated in People v. Wilson (2023) 14 Cal.5th 839, 869.) The

bill also created section 1172.6 (originally codified as section 1170.95) as a mechanism

for retroactive application of those changes in the law. (People v. Strong (2022)

Cal.5th 698, 708 (Strong).)

In 2023, Hernandez filed a petition under section 1172.6 to vacate his murder

conviction. He made all of the allegations required by…