People v. Soriano CA2/1

BACKGROUND

A. Current Offense A felony complaint, filed on December 19, 2023, alleged that 32-year-old Soriano committed assault with a semiautomatic firearm (§ 245, subd. (b)), discharge of a firearm with gross negligence (§ 246.3, subd. (a)), and possession of a firearm by a felon (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1)). At an arraignment held the same day, Soriano pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the court set bail at $245,000. He remained in custody and was eventually released on bail approximately one month before the hearing commenced on his motion for mental health diversion.2 We take our account of the circumstances of the charged offenses from the transcript of the preliminary hearing, as the parties did in their appellate briefing. According to the investigating officer’s testimony (which was based on interviews

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 The two-day hearing on the motion began on April 22,

2024, and concluded on May 24, 2024.

2 with the assault victim), at approximately 9:30 p.m. on December 15, 2023, Soriano approached a taco stand operated by Juan Bernal and his father. Soriano did not ask for anything. He only stared at Bernal in a…