People v. Herrera CA5

BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In September 2019, defendant fired shots into the rental house where his ex- partner and their children were living, broke inside, beat his ex-partner in the head with a gun, and then fled.2 Several days later, law enforcement located defendant, but he evaded capture after shooting at two deputies and stealing a truck at gunpoint. The next day, law enforcement spotted the stolen truck and began pursuit. After the truck’s tire was flattened with a spike strip, defendant stopped, dropped a gun and magazine out of the window, and drove off again. Officers thereafter succeeded in forcing the truck to stop and defendant was taken into custody. In August 2023, defendant was convicted by jury of the attempted murder of his ex-partner, two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer, two counts of assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic firearm and one count of assault with a semiautomatic

All further undesignated statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure. Given our conclusion that the trial court committed error during jury selection, necessitating reversal and remand for a new trial, we only briefly summarize the…