People v. Iniguez CA4/2

BACKGROUND

The facts leading to defendant’s conviction and some details of his sentencing are

taken from his appeal from the judgment in case No. E067733 (People v. Iniguez

(June 16, 2017, E067733) [nonpub. opn.] (Iniguez)).

Defendant worked for a group of drug distributors employed by the Sinaloa drug

cartel. After law enforcement seized 13 pounds of methamphetamine from defendant’s

group, the supplier began demanding payment for the drugs and threatening them and

their families. Defendant’s distribution group responded by kidnapping the supplier and

two of his men, killing the supplier and one of the men, and attempting to kill the other

man. Defendant participated in the crimes by acting as a lookout. (Iniguez, supra,

E067733.)

In 2012, a jury found defendant guilty of two counts of first degree murder (§ 187,

subd. (a), counts 1 & 2), one count of willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted

murder (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a), count 3), three counts of kidnapping for ransom (§ 209,

1 Section 1170.95 was renumbered as section 1172.6 without change in the text, effective June 30, 2022 (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10). For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to the…