People v. Bounlord CA3

BACKGROUND

In 2022, defendant barricaded himself in his residence and shot at six police officers multiple times over the course of several hours. A jury found him guilty of six

1 counts of assault with a firearm upon a peace officer (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (d)(1)),1 one count of second degree burglary (§ 459), and one count of grand theft of a firearm (§ 487, subd. (d)(2)). The jury found true as to each of the assaults that defendant personally used a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (b)) and personally and intentionally discharged a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (c)). The jury was unable to reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder (§§ 187, subd. (a), 664) and those charges were ultimately dismissed. Defendant pleaded no contest to possession of a firearm by a felon. (§ 29800 (a)(1).) In his sentencing brief, defendant claimed the trial court could not impose the upper term, in part because no aggravating factors had been alleged in the charging document. Though defendant acknowledged he had prior convictions, he contended they were “of a de minimis nature” and thus insufficient to justify the upper term. In mitigation, defendant raised his mental illness and chronic drug use,…