People v. Ranieri CA2/6

DISCUSSION

A person is entitled to resentencing relief pursuant to section 1172.6 if (1) “[a] complaint, information, or indictment was filed against the petitioner that allowed the prosecution to proceed under a theory of felony murder [or] murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine”; (2) the petitioner “was convicted of murder”; and (3) the petitioner “could not presently be convicted of murder . . . because of changes to Section 188 or 189 made effective January 1, 2019.” (Id., subd. (a)(1)-(3).) In January 2019, our Legislature amended section 188 to provide that “in order to be convicted of murder, a principal in

3 a crime shall act with malice aforethought” and that “[m]alice shall not be imputed to a person based solely on his . . . participation in a crime.” (Id., subd. (a)(3), as amended by Stats. 2018, ch. 1015, § 2.) The amendment ensures that murder liability is not imposed on a person who is not the actual killer, did not act with the intent to kill, nor was not a major participant in the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life. (People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952, 959.) Effective January 1, 2022, the Legislature…