People v. Superior Court (Maciel)

Robert Maciel, Vincent Maciel and Louis Peralta, real parties in interest (hereafter defendants), were charged with murder (Pen. Code, § 187) with a special circumstance allegation that the murder was committed while lying in wait (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(15)), and two counts of attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 664.) At the preliminary hearing, the magistrate bound over each defendant on all charges and the special circumstance allegation.

Defendants moved to dismiss the special circumstance allegation in superior court (Pen. Code, § 995; Ghent v. Superior Court (1979) 90 Cal.App.3d 944, 954 [ 153 Cal.Rptr. 720 ]). The motion was granted.

The People petitioned for relief from the trial court’s ruling. We stayed the trial court proceedings and issued an alternative writ of mandate.

The Facts

At approximately 7 p.m. on August 10, 1981, Jose Gonzales drove Gustavo Cordero’s white Chevrolet northbound up an alley parallel to Koledo Street in Huntington Beach. Manuel Ocampo was seated in the right front passenger seat and Cordero was seated in the back seat.

As the vehicle proceeded past a row of carports, defendants and a fourth man jumped out from behind the…