People v. Ortega CA1/5

I. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History In April 2017, a grand jury indicted Ortega, Porter-Kelly, and Simons for murder (Pen. Code,2 § 187, subd. (a)), second degree robbery (§ 211), and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(4)). The indictment also charged Simons with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1)), and alleged against Simons a robbery-murder special circumstance (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)) as well as an enhancement for personal use of a firearm causing great bodily injury and death (§ 12022.53, subds. (b), (e)). Following trial, the jury found Simons guilty of all counts and found true the robbery-murder special circumstance as well as the personal use of a firearm enhancement. The jury found Ortega and Porter-Kelly guilty of second degree murder and assault with force likely to inflict great bodily injury but acquitted them of robbery and the lesser included offense of petty theft. Following the verdict, the trial court heard and denied Ortega’s motion for a new trial. The court sentenced Ortega to 15 years to life in prison for

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2 All further statutory references are to the Penal…