THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. LORENZO DAVIS, Defendant and Appellant.
2d Crim. No. B333584
(Super. Ct. No. BA371110) (Los Angeles County)
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION SIX
Filed 4/4/25
GILBERT, P. J.; YEGAN, J. and CODY, J. concurring.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
Lorenzo Davis appeals the trial court‘s order denying his petition for resentencing pursuant to
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
This appeal concerns crimes committed in Los Angeles by Davis, an East Coast Crips criminal street gang member, against three strangers walking to a neighborhood liquor store. Davis wore gloves and held a firearm; one victim was shot and killed as he fled through a hospital parking lot. Within minutes, police officers located and detained Davis based upon a description of his height and clothing (white T-shirt and black pants with stripe). When detained, Davis had no firearm and a later test of his hands for gunshot residue was inconclusive. Police officers found 13 shell casings of the same caliber at the scene of the shooting. The shell casings had no fingerprints. A surviving victim identified Davis at a field show-up and at the preliminary examination, however, as the lone shooter.
Preliminary Examination Transcript
Joe Flores and Joe Pineda testified at the preliminary examination in the prosecution against Davis. On May 7, 2010, Flores, Pineda, and Arturo Segura walked to a liquor store near South Main Street in Los Angeles. An African-American man driving a red-colored four-door Pontiac shouted at the three men “to get off the street.” There were no passengers in the vehicle. The driver identified himself as an East Coast Crips gang member, made derogatory comments about a rival gang, and asked the three men if they were from the rival gang. Flores and his companions replied that they were not gang members and
After the driver of the red Pontiac drove away, two men left a nearby barbershop and asked Flores and his friends if they were from the neighborhood. The three men replied that they were walking to the liquor store to buy beer. The barbershop men identified themselves as East Coast Crips street gang members.
Flores and his friends purchased beer at the liquor store and walked toward home. The driver of the red Pontiac returned, this time with a front-seat and a rear-seat passenger. Flores could not see or describe the front-seat passenger. Flores and his friends ran though a hospital parking lot. The driver of the Pontiac followed and the rear-seat passenger left the vehicle. He was wearing gloves and held a firearm.
As Flores was running, he heard more than four or five gunshots, some whizzing by his head. He thought the bullets were fired from a single firearm. Flores turned around and saw that Segura had been shot. Flores turned back to help Segura but saw the rear-seat passenger run toward him. Flores was “pretty sure” that the rear-seat passenger was still armed. Flores feared that he would be shot, and therefore ran toward the hospital entrance.
The rear-seat passenger approached Segura and punched and kicked him as he lay on the ground. The passenger then
In a field show-up and again at the preliminary examination, Flores identified Davis as the shooter; he was certain that Davis was “the guy.” Flores described the shooter as tall, skinny, light-skinned, and weighing 145 pounds; he stated that he saw the shooter‘s face and his clothing during the crimes.
Segura died from a gunshot wound to his chest.
Nolo Contendere Plea
On November 21, 2011, Davis pleaded nolo contendre to voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. (
On January 6, 2022, Davis filed a
Davis appeals and contends that the trial court erred by relying upon the preliminary examination transcript and engaging in impermissible factfinding. The Attorney General supports Davis‘s arguments in part. We disagree with both parties.
DISCUSSION
Davis argues that his record of conviction does not establish that he was the actual shooter and that the prosecutor could have pursued a theory of accomplice liability.
The preliminary examination transcript is part of the record of conviction. (People v. Flores (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 974, 989, fn. 11.) Until recently, there was disagreement among the appellate courts whether a trial court may consider the preliminary examination transcript at the prima facie stage when a conviction rests upon a plea. Our Supreme Court resolved that disagreement in People v. Patton, supra, 17 Cal.5th 549. Patton held that a petitioner‘s conclusory allegations of entitlement to resentencing relief pursuant to
The purpose of a
Moreover, the trial court did not deny Davis due process of law by the summary denial of his
DISPOSITION
We affirm the order denying the resentencing petition.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED.
GILBERT, P. J.
We concur:
YEGAN, J.
CODY, J.
Lisa B. Lench, Judge
Superior Court County of Los Angeles
Jonathan E. Demson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Idan Ivri and Melanie Dorian, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.