Huynh

Tri Huu Huynh petitions for a writ of mandate/prohibition, contending the trial court abused its discretion by denying his motion pursuant to Penal Code section 995 on the ground it could not be used to set aside allegations the charged attempted murders were premeditated and deliberated. We grant the petition.

Huynh was charged by complaint in the municipal court with shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and assault with a firearm. The evidence at the preliminary hearing showed he was a passenger in a Honda driven by Tuan Nguyen. Hieu Vu and Tran (a minor) were passengers. Nguyen did not know Huynh well, but was giving him a ride home. None of the occupants were gang members.

A Toyota Supra, which had been tailgating the Honda and flashing its high beams, pulled in front of the Honda at a stoplight, and one of the Supra’s occupants got out and opened its hatchback. A person in the hatchback area sat up and stared at the Honda’s occupants. He pulled up his shirt and may have exposed a gun. As the cars traveled along, a person in the Supra stood up and flashed gang signs and said something like “O.G.O.V.” When the cars reached another light, the Supra pulled up next to…