Opinion
B322468
08-04-2023
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. RICHARD JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant.
Theresa Osterman Stevenson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County No. VA122085, Roger T. Ito, Judge. Dismissed.
Theresa Osterman Stevenson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
CURREY, P. J.
In 2012, a jury convicted defendant and appellant Richard Johnson of willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted murder. (Pen Code, §§ 664, 187, subd. (a).) The jury found Johnson personally inflicted great bodily injury in the commission of the attempted murder. (§ 12022.7, subd. (a).) The trial court sentenced him to an indeterminate term of 7 years to life on the attempted murder count, doubled due to a strike prior, plus a 3-year great bodily injury enhancement and a 5-year prior serious felony enhancement, for a total of 22 years to life in state prison. The court stayed sentencing on the remaining counts and allegations. This court affirmed the judgment on direct appeal.
All undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.
Though not directly relevant to this appeal, the jury also convicted him of mayhem, second degree robbery, and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, in addition to finding great bodily injury allegations true on several of those counts. Johnson also admitted he sustained various prior convictions.
In 2021, Johnson filed a petition for resentencing under section 1172.6 (former section 1170.95). The trial court concluded Johnson had made a prima facie showing of eligibility for relief, issued an order to show cause, and held an evidentiary hearing. At the evidentiary hearing, the prosecution relied on the trial transcripts and its briefing. Johnson testified in support of his petition. The parties submitted further briefing, then the court held an additional hearing allowing oral argument from counsel. The court then denied Johnson's petition, concluding beyond a reasonable doubt he was guilty of attempted murder under current law.
Effective June 30, 2022, the Legislature renumbered section 1170.95 to section 1172.6. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) There were no substantive changes to the statute. For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to the statute by its new code section. That section provides relief for certain individuals convicted of attempted murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine. (See § 1172.6.)
Johnson timely appealed, and we appointed counsel to represent him. On February 16, 2023, appellate counsel filed a brief raising no issues and requesting discretionary independent review of the record under People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216. Johnson did not respond to our letter advising him of his right to file supplemental briefing.
Because Johnson's appeal is from an order denying section 1172.6 postconviction relief, this court has no duty to independently review the record for reasonably arguable issues, and we decline to do so. (People v. Delgadillo, supra, 14 Cal.5th at pp. 221-222.) We therefore dismiss Johnson's appeal as abandoned.
DISPOSITION
The appeal is dismissed.
We concur: COLLINS, J., ZUKIN, J.