People v. Ledesma CA6

I. BACKGROUND

The Santa Cruz County District Attorney charged Ledesma with attempted murder of a police officer (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a); count 1), three counts of first degree residential robbery (§ 211; counts 2–4), first degree burglary of an inhabited dwelling (§ 459; count 5), assault with a firearm (§ 245, subd. (a)(2); count 6), and shooting at an inhabited dwelling (§ 246; count 7). As to counts 2 through 5, the information alleged that Ledesma personally used and intentionally discharged a firearm in the commission of these offenses. (§§ 12022.5, subd. (a)(1), 12022.53, subds. (b) & (c).) The operative second amended information further alleged 14 prior convictions for strike offenses (§§ 667, subds. (b)–(i)) from two cases in 1989 and 1994, and eight circumstances in aggravation (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 4.421). The matter proceeded to jury trial in November 2022. A. Trial Evidence

Eli Gutierrez lived and worked at a Watsonville house with a garage that had been repurposed as a cannabis dispensary. Gutierrez’s cousin Daniel Alvarez Ayala worked at the dispensary. In June 2018, Ledesma and Dominic Quintana robbed the dispensary and its customers at gunpoint.…