People v. Ramos CA3

BACKGROUND

Our unpublished decision in Ramos’s direct appeal, People v. Ramos (Nov. 7, 2018, C084516) (Ramos), recites the underlying facts, which we briefly summarize for context only. In July 2014, Ramos and two other men robbed a bank in Stockton and then fled in an SUV with three hostages. During the high-speed chase that ensued, one of the men repeatedly shot at pursuing officers with an assault rifle. One hostage was shot in the leg and then was pushed or fell out of the SUV. A second hostage jumped out. Both suffered serious injuries. (Ramos, supra, C084516.) When the SUV finally came to a stop, police and the three men exchanged more gunfire. The third hostage and two of the men were killed. Police found Ramos under the dead body of the hostage and took him into custody. (Ramos, supra, C084516.) The People convened a grand jury, and it returned an indictment charging Ramos and codefendant Pablo Ruvalcaba, who was alleged to have dropped the three men off at

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 the bank, with dozens of counts. The indictment charged Ramos with: murder of a hostage and two coconspirators (§ 187, subd. (a)), robbery (§ 211),…