Filed 4/4/23 P. v. Williams CA6

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for 

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or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. 

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

JACOB LEE WILLIAMS,

Defendant and Appellant.

 H050500

 (Monterey County

 Super. Ct. No. MCR7889)

THE COURT1

Defendant Jacob Lee Williams appeals from an order denying his petition for 

resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.95.2 For the reasons set forth below, we 

affirm the order.

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

3

In 1992, Williams was convicted, after a court trial, of second degree murder 

(§ 187) and burglary (§ 459). The court also found true that Williams had personally 

used a knife in the commission of the murder. (§ 12022, subd. (b).) The court sentenced 

1 Before Greenwood, P. J., Grover, J. and Wilson, J.

2 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. Effective June 30, 

2022, section 1170.95 was renumbered section 1172.6, with no changes to the text. 

(Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) 

3 The facts of the offense are not relevant to the analysis and disposition of the 

appeal and therefore we have omitted them.
2

Williams to 16 years to life in state prison. This court affirmed that conviction. (The 

People v Williams (Oct. 21, 1993, No. H010251) [nonpub. opn.].)

On August 22, 2022, Williams filed a petition for resentencing under former 

section 1170.95. On August 4, 2022, the District Attorney conceded that Williams had 

made a prima facie showing under section 1172.6, subdivision (c), and requested that an 

evidentiary hearing be set under section 1172.6, subdivision (d)(1). The parties stipulated 

that the court could rely on the transcript from the preliminary hearing at the evidentiary 

hearing. At the evidentiary hearing on October 13, 2022, the court denied the petition 

after finding, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Williams was the actual killer. Williams 

timely appealed. 

On appeal, counsel filed an opening brief pursuant to People v. Serrano (2012) 

211 Cal.App.4th 496 (Serrano). We notified Williams that he could file a supplemental 

brief on his own behalf, and that failure to do so would result in the dismissal of the 

appeal as abandoned. (People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216, 232.) Williams filed 

a timely supplemental brief.

II. DISCUSSION

In Williams’s supplemental brief, he argues that he is entitled to be resentenced 

under Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.). 

Williams does not raise an arguable issue on appeal. An issue is arguable if it has 

a reasonable potential for success, and, if resolved favorably for the appellant, the result 

will either be a reversal or a modification of the judgment. (People v. Johnson (1981) 

123 Cal.App.3d 106, 109.) 

Effective January 1, 2019, Senate Bill No. 1437 amended sections 188 and 189, 

which pertain to the definition of malice and the degrees of murder. (Stats. 2018, ch. 

1015, §§ 2-3.) As amended, section 188 provides: “Except as stated in subdivision (e) of 

Section 189, in order to be convicted of murder, a principal in a crime shall act with 

malice aforethought. Malice shall not be imputed to a person based solely on his or her 
3

participation in a crime.” (Stats. 2018, ch. 1015, § 2; § 188, subd. (a)(3).) The changes 

to the law were enacted to “amend the felony murder rule and the natural and probable 

consequences doctrine, . . . to ensure that murder liability is not imposed on a person who 

is not the actual killer, did not act with the intent to kill, or was not a major participant of 

the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life.” (Stats. 2018, 

ch. 1015, § 1, subd. (f).) 

Senate Bill No. 1437 also added section 1170.95, which permits a person with an 

existing conviction for felony murder or murder under the natural and probable 

consequences doctrine to petition the sentencing court to have the murder conviction 

vacated and to be resentenced on any remaining counts if he or she could not have been 

convicted of murder as a result of the other legislative changes implemented by Senate 

Bill No. 1437.” (People v. Flores (2020) 44 Cal.App.5th 985, 992.) “If the petitioner 

makes a prima facie showing of entitlement to relief, the court must issue an order to 

show cause and, absent a waiver and stipulation by the parties, hold a hearing to 

determine whether to vacate the murder conviction, recall the sentence, and resentence 

the petitioner.” (Id. at p. 992.)

Williams does not dispute the court’s conclusion that he was the actual killer. 

Instead, he appears to argue that he is entitled to resentencing under section 1172.6 

because, as a result of Senate Bill No. 1437, the definition of malice in section 188 was 

amended, so he was entitled to an instruction that malice could either be express or 

implied. Williams was convicted after a court trial, so no instructions were required. 

Additionally, Senate Bill No. 1437 modified section 188 by adding subdivision (a)(3), a 

provision which states that malice shall not be imputed to a person based solely on his 

participation in a crime. Williams does not claim that he was unlawfully convicted on the 

basis of imputed malice. Accordingly, he does not raise an arguable issue that the trial 

court erred in determining that he was ineligible for resentencing under section 1172.6. 
4

Because Williams raises no arguable issue in his supplemental brief, we must 

affirm the post-conviction order. (Serrano, supra, 211 Cal.App.4th at pp. 503-504.) 

III. DISPOSITION

The October 13, 2022 order denying the resentencing petition is affirmed.