Mendias

Charged with the willful, deliberate, premeditated attempted murder (Pen. Code, §§ 664/187) of his 15-year-old son, appellant was convicted of assault with a firearm (§ 245, subd. (a)(2)). The jury found true gun use (§ 12022.5) and great bodily injury (§ 12022.7) allegations. Prior felony conviction (§ 667, subd. (a)) and habitual offender (§ 667.7) allegations were bifurcated and, after appellant waived jury, found true by the court. Pursuant to section 667.7, appellant was sentenced to state prison for life, not eligible for parole before 20 years. The 19-year sentence imposed pursuant to section 1170 was stayed.

Appellant contends the following errors require reversal or partial reversal of the judgment: (1) the giving of a flight instruction (CALJIC No. 2.52); (2) prosecutor comment that appellant failed to call certain witnesses; (3) staying rather than striking the section 1170 sentence; (4) insufficient evidence of a section 667.7 robbery prior; (5) invalid murder prior under section 667.7; (6) insufficient evidence of “great bodily injury”; and (7) ineffective assistance of counsel. We find no error and affirm the judgment.

Factual Background

We preface our…