People v. Orabuena CA4/2

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant, Mark Orabuena, filed a petition to vacate his murder

conviction pursuant to Penal Code1 section 1172.6. The trial court summarily denied the

petition without issuing an order to show cause or conducting an evidentiary hearing after

concluding that defendant’s record of conviction conclusively established defendant was

ineligible for relief. Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court prejudicially erred in

considering the transcript of his preliminary hearing and in its determination that he was

ineligible for relief.

We conclude the trial court did not err in considering defendant’s preliminary

hearing transcript under the specific facts of this case, but we agree that the trial court

erred in reaching its ultimate conclusion that the record of conviction established that

defendant was ineligible for relief under section 1172.6. As a result, we reverse and

remand the matter with instructions to issue an order to show cause and hold an

evidentiary hearing as provided in section 1172.6, subdivision (d).

II. BACKGROUND

On March 12, 1998, the People filed an information alleging a single count of

murder (count 1, §187,…