People v. Mendoza CA3

BACKGROUND

In 1993,2 defendant and his brother, codefendant Luis Mendoza, were charged with the murders of Rudy Martinez and Ernest Arranda (§ 187; counts 1 & 2), and the attempted willful, deliberate, and premeditated murders of Davis Ruiz and Steve Carrillo (§§ 664, 187; counts 3 & 4). Defendant alone was charged with shooting at an occupied motor vehicle (§ 246; count 6), while Luis Mendoza was charged with permitting another to shoot from his vehicle (former § 12034, subd. (b); count 5). For each of the murder and attempted murder counts, it was alleged that defendant personally used a firearm (former § 12022.5, subd. (a)), and that he discharged a firearm at an occupied motor vehicle which caused great bodily injury and death to another (former § 12022.5, subd. (b)(1)). As to Luis Mendoza, it was alleged that a principal in the offenses was armed

Statutory references regarding the original charges are to the former code sections as they existed in 1993 when the information was filed. Several of these code sections have since been moved or renumbered without substantive change.

2 with a firearm (a shotgun) (former § 12022, subd. (a)(1)). A multiple-murder special…