O’Melveny Team Gets Murder Conviction Vacated

An O’Melveny team successfully had a client’s conviction downgraded by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge after the man had served more than 30 years of a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Gilbert Mendez immediately was resentenced, making him instantaneously eligible for parole. He had been convicted under California’s draconian felony-murder laws for an unarmed liquor store theft gone awry when he was 21.

Mendez and his 17-year-old friend were intoxicated and unarmed when they were confronted by a store clerk with a baseball bat. The clerk was hit in the head with the bat and died 11 days later. Under the state’s felony-murder laws, both men were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and absent any determination of who killed the store clerk. The friend ultimately admitted responsibility, was granted parole, and was released in 2017 because he was a minor at the time of the crime. Meanwhile, Mendez remained imprisoned.

O’Melveny engaged in more than three years of habeas litigation, finally obtaining a settlement and then a decision that vacated Mendez’s first-degree murder conviction. This resulted in his resentencing, making him immediately eligible for parole. O’Melveny will continue to represent Mendez throughout the parole process.