People v. Oliver CA1/5, A159606

In 1985 a jury convicted Jack T. Oliver of first-degree murder, residential burglary, and robbery based on a 1982 killing by asphyxiation during a burglary/robbery.
Crime-scene fingerprints included two prints identified as Oliver’s; other evidence included pawned stereo equipment traced to a cohabitant and preliminary-hearing testimony placing Oliver at the burglary.
Oliver’s conviction was under the felony-murder doctrine; the prior Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction.
In 2019 Oliver filed a Penal Code § 1170.95 petition, averring he was not the actual killer, did not intend to kill or aid a killer, and was not a major participant acting with reckless indifference.
The trial court, after appointing counsel, denied the petition without issuing an order to show cause, concluding from the record that Oliver was the actual killer and therefore ineligible.
The Court of Appeal reversed, holding the trial court improperly weighed evidence at the prima facie stage and remanded with directions to issue an order to show cause and hold a § 1170.95(d) hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court correctly denied a § 1170.95 petition at the prima facie stage without issuing an order to show cause	The record shows Oliver was the actual killer and remains convictable under current felony-murder law, so no prima facie showing	Oliver averred he was not the actual killer, lacked intent, and was not a major participant; those allegations must be accepted at the prima facie stage	Reversed: trial court erred by denying without issuing an order to show cause; remand for OSC and hearing
Scope of record review at prima facie stage: may the court weigh evidence from the record to reject the petition	The court may examine the record and deny a petition if the record shows the petitioner was the actual killer or otherwise ineligible	The court should accept petitioner's factual allegations as true unless the record conclusively refutes them; it must not engage in factfinding or weigh competing evidence at this stage	Held that trial court improperly weighed evidence; record review is allowed only to identify facts that conclusively refute the petitioner's claims, not to resolve credibility or weigh evidence

People v. Lewis, 11 Cal.5th 952 (Cal. 2021) (explains § 1170.95 procedure and limits on prima facie inquiry)
People v. Drayton, 47 Cal.App.5th 965 (Cal. Ct. App. 2020) (trial court may not resolve factual disputes or weigh evidence at § 1170.95 prima facie stage)