People v. Lopez CA2/4

INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 2017, the Los Angeles County District Attorney filed a second amended information charging defendant and appellant Ronald Lee Lopez with 17 felony offenses.1 A jury convicted Lopez on all counts. Relevant to this appeal, the jury convicted Lopez of the first degree murder of William Knight (Pen. Code,2 § 187, subd. (a); count 1); conspiracy to murder Knight (§§ 182, 187, subd. (a); count 2); the attempted murders of James Arrellano and Daniel Bugarin (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a); counts 16 and 18); and conspiracy to murder Arrellano and Bugarin (§§ 182, 187, subd. (a); counts 17 and 19). The trial court sentenced Lopez to 535 years to life in state prison. In 2022, Lopez filed a petition for resentencing under former section 1170.95.3 The trial court appointed counsel on Lopez’s behalf. The prosecution filed a response, arguing, among other things, because the jury’s guilty verdicts on the conspiracy counts all included findings that Lopez harbored the intent to

The second amended information also charged two co- defendants, David Solorio and Sheldon McMorries, with various offenses, many of which overlapped with Lopez’s charges. …