P. v. Williams
In November 2008, a jury found Octavus Williams guilty of second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)) for the benefit of a criminal street gang (Pen. Code, § 186.22, subd. (b)(1)). In February 2009, the court sentenced Williams to an indeterminate term of 15 years to life in prison. In September 2010, this court affirmed the judgment. In December, the California Supreme Court denied Williams's petition for review.
In October 2012, Williams filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis in the trial court. In the petition, he claimed that on July 24, 2012, he received July 2009 transcripts from his then appointed appellate attorney and thereby discovered that the attorney was ineffective. Williams claimed the attorney "was put on notice [by the prosecutor] that the key prosecution witness . . . had engaged in doctor shopping while the instant case was still pending," and the prosecutor believed "that such conduct would be or could be construed as a moral turpitude crime." According to Williams, the attorney did nothing with this information. The trial court denied the petition for writ of error coram nobis, correctly noting, inter alia, "That a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, which relates more to a mistake of law than of fact, is an inappropriate ground for relief on coram nobis has long been the rule." (People v. Kim (2009) 45 Cal.4th 1078, 1104.) Williams appeals.
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