People v. Rosas CA4/3

FACTS

On October 15, 1991, C.J. (the victim of the attempted murder) was walking home with two friends when they met Rosas and another man. The other man began to beat C.J. while Rosas stood by, pointing a revolver at C.J. Rosas told C.J. that if C.J. tried to avoid being hit, Rosas would shoot him. Rosas then asked C.J. for money. C.J. and one of his friends gave

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. Effective June 30, 2022, the Legislature renumbered section 1170.95 to section 1172.6 without substantive change. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) For clarity, we refer to the statute as section 1172.6 throughout the opinion.

2 Rosas’s companion their money; C.J.’s other friend did not have any money and so gave nothing. After the money was handed over, Rosas commented that C.J. had hit one of Rosas’s friends some months earlier. Rosas then asked C.J. if he wanted to see if Rosas’s gun would work and threatened to kill C.J. Rosas was pointing the gun at C.J.’s head at the time. One of C.J.’s friends tried to defend C.J., and Rosas shot at the friend, but missed. Rosas then pointed the gun at C.J.’s chest and fired, but the gun did not go off. Rosas tried another…