People v. Orlando CA6

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Complaint and Preliminary Hearing On January 11, 2017, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office filed a complaint charging Orlando, along with three codefendants, with assault by a state prisoner (§ 4501; count 1); attempted willful and premeditated murder (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a); count 2); and custodial possession of a weapon (§ 4502, subd. (a); count 3.) The complaint also alleged that Orlando had personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon (§ 969f, subd. (a)), and had previously been convicted of four prior serious or violent felony offenses, including a prior strike offense (§§ 667.5, subd. (c); 1170.12.) A preliminary hearing was held on December 8, 2017. At the hearing, the trial court heard testimony from officers Johan Carlo Corona, Jesus Mendoza Jr., and Drew Bittner, who all worked as correctional officers at the Salinas Valley State Prison. Corona and Mendoza Jr. testified that on October 6, 2016, they were monitoring one of the outside yards when they observed a fight occurring between a number of inmates. Corona initially observed three inmates attacking one inmate, and as he and other officers approached, a…