People v. Arguello CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 2012, appellant and defendant Eric Arguello (appellant Arguello) was convicted after a jury trial of two counts of first degree premeditated murder, two counts of premeditated attempted murder, evading an officer, and active participation in a criminal street gang, with firearm enhancements. In his direct appeal, this court corrected sentencing errors and affirmed his convictions. In 2019, Arguello filed a petition for resentencing pursuant to former section 1170.95 of the Penal Code;1 the petition was summarily denied. In 2022, Arguello filed another petition pursuant to amended section 1172.6. In 2023, the trial court denied the petition for failing to state a prima facie case. On appeal, appellate counsel filed a brief which summarized the facts and procedural history with citations to the record, raised no issues, and asked this court to independently review the record pursuant to both People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216 and People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436. Arguello filed a letter brief raising two issues, and requested judicial notice2 of the prosecutor’s closing argument at his jury trial. After notice to the parties and without objection, we…