People v. Riddle CA6

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Shooting Incident Riddle owns a ranch in a rural area near King City, which he uses for hunting expeditions. Steven Foy owns a property adjacent to a portion of Riddle’s ranch. Riddle and Foy do not like each other. Among other things, Riddle has accused Foy of poaching and confronted him about animals missing from the ranch. For his part, Foy has accused Riddle of discharging firearms near Foy’s property, leading to several law enforcement visits to Riddle’s ranch. On January 16, 2022, after receiving a text from another neighbor suggesting possible poaching, Riddle drove to his ranch. Although he found nothing suspicious, Riddle stayed to perform maintenance work on a waterline near Foy’s property. After Foy appeared, Riddle flipped off Foy. Riddle then retrieved a rifle from his jeep and fired several shots. Both Foy and his then-girlfriend Marilee Miller, who had come out of a nearby laundry room, thought that Riddle pointed his rifle at them before firing, though neither saw the shots because beforehand Foy jumped behind a tree and Miller ran to retrieve her cellphone. During the course of this incident, both Foy and Miller called 911. Deputy Sheriff…