People v. Pearson CA1/1

I. BACKGROUND

According to the evidence adduced at the preliminary hearing, in November 2024, police officers responded to a 911 call reporting an assault. The caller said that he and his coworker were on the sidewalk when a man

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1 they did not know, but who was later identified as Pearson, approached them and slapped the coworker. Then, after observing the caller on the phone, Pearson approached the caller and repeatedly punched him in the face, pushed him to the ground, and placed him in a chokehold. The coworker pushed Pearson off the caller. Pearson later claimed that the two men attacked him. An amended information charged Pearson with committing witness intimidation by force or threat of force against the caller (§ 136.1, subd. (c)(1); count one); assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury against the caller (§ 245, subd. (a)(4); count two); and misdemeanor battery against the coworker (§ 242; count three). The amended information alleged that Pearson had a prior strike (§§ 667, 1170.12) and a prior serious felony conviction (§§ 667, subd. (a)(1)) and that Pearson committed the offenses while released…