People v. Greer CA4/2

I.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Ronald Greer’s four-year-old daughter, Samiah Downing,

died of dehydration while locked in a room at home. A jury convicted him and his

girlfriend, defendant and appellant Bianca Stanch, of first degree murder, torture, and

child abuse. The trial court sentenced both of them to a term of 25 years for the murder

conviction, a consecutive term of seven years to life for the torture conviction, and a six-

year concurrent term for the child abuse conviction.

Stanch and Greer argued (1) the trial court failed to instruct the jury that it had to

find defendants acted with malice aforethought to convict them of first degree murder, (2)

the court erroneously found that separate sentences were appropriate for each conviction,

and (3) the matter must be remanded for resentencing under recently enacted legislation.

Greer also argued the trial court erroneously denied his motion for a new trial. We

rejected defendants’ contentions and affirmed the judgment.

Our Supreme Court granted review and remanded with directions to vacate our

decision and reconsider the cause in light of People v. Salazar (2023) 15 Cal.5th 416 and

People v.…