People v. Cao CA4/3

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

I.

CHARGES AND GUILTY PLEA

In 1994, Cao, along with Tam Van Nguyen, was charged with the murder of the victim (§ 187, subd. (a); count one) and street terrorism (§ 186.22, subd. (a); count two). It was further alleged that both defendants were vicariously armed with a firearm and knew that another principal was personally armed (§ 12022, subd. (a)(1)) and that the murder was committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)). Cao pleaded guilty. The factual basis for his plea was set forth on the Tahl form as follows: “On 8-6-93 in Orange County I willfully and unlawfully entered a gunfight after lying in wait for my opponent, Doi Phung, knowing my actions would cause Doi Phung to use lethal force in response to my actions, causing Doi Phung to shoot and kill a person while attempting to shoot me. I did this crime for the benefit of Nip Family, a criminal street

1 Effective June 30, 2022, section 1170.95 was renumbered as section 1172.6, without substantive change in the text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) For the sake of simplicity, we refer to the current statute, section 1172.6. Subsequent undesignated…