People v. Castro CA6

I. DISCUSSION

A. SUMMARY

An amended information filed in 2024 charged defendant with premeditated attempted murder (count 1), possession of a firearm as a convicted felon (count 2), and assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic firearm (count 3). The information alleged that defendant personally used and discharged a firearm. It also alleged a prior strike conviction. According to the probation report, the charges stemmed from an incident that took place after defendant was arrested for mail theft. The arresting officer transported defendant to the jail in the backseat of his police car. While the officer was completing arrest paperwork in the front of the car, defendant retrieved the officer’s gun from a storage compartment in the rear of the car and fired a shot. Over the next hour, defendant fired approximately five additional shots while barricaded inside the car. He eventually surrendered to police several hours later. In exchange for a stipulated sentence of 15 years in prison, defendant pleaded no contest to count 3 (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (d)(2)); admitted personally using a firearm (Pen. Code, § 12022.53, subd. (b)); and admitted the prior strike conviction.…