People v. Cervantes CA6

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Facts of the Offense2 On August 31, 2012, two men with guns robbed the El Migueliño Restaurant in Seaside. The robbers fled with $2,167 in cash. The owner, armed with his personal handgun, pursued the robbers and discharged his weapon at them. He told police he had shot one of the suspects. Later that day, a white Chrysler 300 dropped off a gunshot victim at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. The gunshot victim, Evan Hernandez, had been shot in the foot. A witness from the restaurant later identified him as one of the robbers. Later that same day, police stopped a white Chrysler 300 driven by defendant. Police searched the car and found a bloody shoe with a bullet hole matching the location of the wound in Hernandez’s foot. They also found bloody clothing on the front passenger floorboard. Police arrested defendant and questioned him. Defendant initially denied knowing about the bloody shoe, and he stated the bloody clothes were his. He denied having taken Hernandez to the hospital. Defendant then changed his statement and admitted he had picked up Hernandez. But defendant insisted he had nothing to do with the robbery, and said that…