People v. Arocha CA2/5 ( 2024 )

Filed 9/9/24 P. v. Arocha CA2/5
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for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.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION FIVE
THE PEOPLE, B332948
Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County
Super. Ct. No. A989460)
v.
RUDY AROCHA,
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los
Angeles County, Ray G. Jurado, Judge. Dismissed.
Verna Wefald, under appointment by the Court of Appeal,
for Defendant and Appellant.
No appearance by Plaintiff and Respondent.
In 1989, defendant and appellant Rudy Arocha (defendant)
was convicted by guilty plea of second degree murder and
robbery. During the plea colloquy, defendant (and his attorney)
accepted this statement by the prosecutor as the factual basis for
defendant’s plea: “It is our understanding in this case that you
[i.e., defendant] robbed an individual named . . . Sergio Quintero,
and during the course of that robbery you accidentally shot a co-
suspect, a person with whom you were committing that robbery,
a friend named Andrew Rodriguez.” Defendant was sentenced to
15 years to life in prison for the murder and a concurrent three
year term for the robbery.
In 2019, defendant filed a Penal Code section 1170.95 (now
section 1172.6) petition for resentencing on the 1989 murder
conviction.1 The trial court denied that petition. We affirmed the
denial in a January 2021 opinion, reasoning defendant was the
murder victim’s actual killer and was accordingly ineligible for
relief as a matter of law. Our Supreme Court denied review.
In January 2022, defendant filed another section 1172.6
petition seeking resentencing on his 1989 murder conviction. The
trial court denied that petition because it raised the same issue
as the earlier petition that it denied—a denial this court had
affirmed on appeal. Defendant noticed an appeal from that
denial order and the Administrative Presiding Justice of this
court dismissed the appeal because “‘“an order made after
judgment is not appealable where the motion merely asks the
court to repeat or overrule the former ruling on the same facts.”’
(People v. Vaitonis (1962) 200 Cal.App.2d 156, 159.)”
1
Undesignated statutory references that follow are to the
Penal Code.
2
Defendant tried again in 2023. In April of that year, he
filed in the trial court a motion for rehearing or reconsideration of
the denial of his section 1172.6 petition. The trial court denied
that motion, finding it was meritless “[e]ven assuming that the
court has jurisdiction to consider defendant’s motion for
reconsideration.”
Defendant noticed an appeal from that ruling, and that is
the appeal before this court now. Defendant was appointed
counsel in this court, and counsel filed a brief stating there were
no arguable issues but asking this court to process the appeal in
accordance with the procedures outlined in People v. Delgadillo
(2022) 14 Cal.5th 216. Defendant was thereafter permitted to
personally file a supplemental brief and his submission, insofar
as it is intelligible, again contests the denial of section 1172.6
relief.
We do not discuss the contentions in defendant’s
supplemental brief, which duplicate prior contentions raised and
rejected or refer to immaterial asserted changes in the law,
because we have no jurisdiction to entertain this appeal taken
from an order that does not affect defendant’s substantial rights.
(People v. Thomas (1959) 52 Cal.2d 521, 527; People v. Vaitonis
(1962) 200 Cal.App.2d 156, 159.)
3
DISPOSITION
The appeal is dismissed.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
BAKER, Acting P. J.
We concur:
MOOR, J.
KIM, J.
4