Paredes

Certified for Partial Publication. [*]

OPINION

KING, J.

Defendants Daniel Loreto Noriega and Manuel Ortega Paredes were charged in the same information with the first degree, premeditated murder of Cesar Cortez. (Pen.Code, § 187, subd. (a).) [1] It was further alleged that the murder was committed in the course of a carjacking and robbery or attempted carjacking and robbery (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)), and that Noriega personally and intentionally discharged a firearm in the commission of the murder (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)).

Defendants were tried together before separate juries. The juries found defendants guilty of first degree murder and found the special-circumstance allegations true. Noriega's jury also found the firearm allegation true. Both defendants were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Noriega was sentenced to an additional 25 years to life for the firearm enhancement.

A third defendant, Juan Diego Vasquez, pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and a firearm enhancement in exchange for a sentence of 12 years and his agreement to testify truthfully at trial. Following his plea agreement, Vasquez was diagnosed with cancer and the court ordered…