People v. Hefner CA4/3

── People v. Hefner CA4/3 ── Court: California Court of Appeal Date: May 07, 2026 Category: General Filed 5/7/26 P. v. Hefner CA4/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, G065273 v. (Super. Ct. No. C-50770) BRIAN LYLE HEFNER, OPINION Defendant and Appellant. Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Gary S. Paer, Judge. Affirmed. Jill Kent, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *  A jury convicted defendant Brian Lyle Hefner of one count of first 1 degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187; count 1), one count of attempted murder (§§ 664, 187; count 2), and one count of robbery (§ 211; count 3). The jury also found true the special circumstance that the murder was committed during the commission of a robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)) and that defendant was vicariously armed in each crime (§ 12022, subd. (a)). (People v. Hefner et al. (Dec. 22, 2022, G060572) [nonpub. opn.] (Hefner I.) The court sentenced defendant to life without possibility of parole plus 10 years in state prison as follows: (1) life without possibility of parole on count 1; (2) a consecutive term of nine years on count 2, plus one year for the arming allegation; and (3) a consecutive term of one year on count 3.2 In 2021, defendant filed a petition for resentencing under former section 1170.95 (now § 1172.6).3 The trial court summarily denied the petition, and defendant appealed. Another panel of this court reversed the trial court’s summary denial and directed the trial court to issue an order to show cause, conduct an evidentiary hearing on count 1, and consider whether defendant could establish a prima facie basis for relief on count 2. (Hefner I, supra, G060572.) After an evidentiary hearing on remand, the trial court denied the petition. Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal. 1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 A subsequent amended judgment appears to indicate the court stayed execution of the one-year sentence on count 3. 3 Effective June 30, 2022, section 1170.95 was renumbered section 1172.6, with no change in text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10). 2  Although this is an appeal from a postconviction order, appointed counsel has filed a brief pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). Appointed counsel argues the limitations set forth in People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216 (Delgadillo) do not apply because the trial court denied the petition after issuing an order to show cause. Appointed counsel also identifies potential issues to assist in our independent review pursuant to Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738. Defendant was given the opportunity to file written argument on his own behalf, but he has not done so. We need not determine whether this appeal should be determined under Wende or Delgadillo. After exercising our discretion to conduct an independent review of the record following the guidelines established in Wende,