People v. Torres CA2/1

INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted defendant Braulio Torres of first degree murder in 2004. In 2022, he filed a petition for resentencing under Penal Code1 section 1172.6, which the superior court denied at the prima facie stage. Torres appeals, contending the court erroneously denied him an evidentiary hearing because it is possible he was convicted based on an imputed malice theory not viable under current law. We disagree. The jury either found Torres guilty as the perpetrator of murder or as a direct accomplice under an aiding and abetting theory. Under either scenario, the jury necessarily found that Torres acted with the intent to kill. Because Torres is ineligible for relief under section 1172.6 as a matter of law, we affirm the denial of his petition.

POSTCONVICTION RELIEF UNDER SECTION 1172.

We begin by briefly summarizing section 1172.6, which was enacted in 2018 as part of Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.).2 The legislation’s overall purpose was “to amend the felony murder rule and the natural and probable consequences doctrine, as it relates to murder, to ensure that murder liability is not imposed on a person who is not the actual killer, did not act with the…