P. v. Morris
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This case involves an appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, with the defendant, Richard Curtis Morris, Jr., appealing from the trial court's denial of his petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6. Morris was previously convicted on charges of first-degree murder with associated special circumstances of rape, robbery, and murder for financial gain. He argues that for a nonkiller to be convicted of first-degree murder under the amended felony-murder statute when the nonkiller acts with intent to kill, the prosecution must prove the nonkiller assisted the actual killer in the killing itself. According to him, the jury found that he aided an actor in committing the underlying felonies, which he claims is insufficient basis for denying a resentencing evidentiary hearing.
The appeals court disagreed with Morris, holding that a person who, with an intent to kill, directly commits or aids and abets an enumerated felony in which a death occurs commits the actus reus necessary for felony murder under the amended felony-murder statute by acting in furtherance of the common design of the felony. The jury instructions and verdicts in this case establish the jury necessarily concluded Morris possessed an intent to kill during the commission of the underlying felonies and aided and abetted the actual killer in committing those felonies. By this ruling, the court affirmed that the record of conviction establishes, as a matter of law, that Morris is not eligible for resentencing. Therefore, the trial court was correct in its summary denial of the petition for resentencing without issuing an order to show cause and holding an evidentiary hearing.
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