People v. Gaillard
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In the case before the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District Division One State of California, the defendant, Devin Gaillard, appealed from a lower court decision denying his petition for resentencing on a 2014 voluntary manslaughter conviction under Penal Code section 1170.95 (now § 1172.6). Gaillard argued that he had established a prima facie case because the record of conviction did not conclusively establish his ineligibility for relief. The People, represented by the Attorney General, conceded this error and agreed that the order must be reversed.
Gaillard had initially pled guilty to counts of voluntary manslaughter and transportation of marijuana, admitting that he "aided [and] abetted the voluntary manslaughter of Dillon Davis [and] transported marijuana." The trial court sentenced him to a 25-year prison term.
In 2022, Gaillard filed a petition for resentencing under section 1172.6. However, the trial court denied the petition, concluding that Gaillard was a direct aider and abettor and therefore ineligible for relief under the law. Gaillard then filed a timely appeal.
The appellate court concluded that the trial court erred in its decision. It found that Gaillard’s guilty plea did not conclusively establish his ineligibility for relief under section 1172.6. The court ruled that Gaillard’s admission that he aided and abetted in the crime did not definitively establish that he could still be convicted of murder under current law, which requires the defendant to personally harbor malice aforethought. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s order and remanded the matter for further proceedings, directing the trial court to issue an order to show cause and hold an evidentiary hearing on the petition.
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