Grand jury transcripts are inadmissible at PC 1172.6 evidentiary hearing and the remaining evidence presented was insufficient to support the order denying defendant’s petition. Relying in part on grand jury transcripts, the trial court found after an evidentiary hearing that the prosecution proved the defendant was guilty of aiding and abetting implied malice murder, finding it sufficient that the defendant knew he was aiding in a violent attack. The 2DCA reversed. The grand jury transcript was statutorily inadmissible. Without it, the court was left with the factual basis for the defendant’s plea that he was “involved in an assault that resulted in the death of [the victim],” but he was not the shooter, and the defendant’s testimony that he participated in the fight and was seen in the video striking someone with a pool stick. The court of appeal found this insufficient and remanded the matter for a new evidentiary hearing.

The full opinion is available on the court’s website here: https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B330062.PDF