People v. Mendoza CA5

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

At a Bakersfield bar called Stella’s Sandtrap, sheriff’s deputies and an ambulance arrived in response to a reported shooting around 1:50 a.m. on August 21, 2011. They found Roman Fernandez lying in the parking lot with a gunshot wound to his chest, not breathing, and with no pulse. Fernandez was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:12 a.m. An autopsy showed that he was killed by a single shot that entered the left side of his chest, exited near his right armpit, and damaged his heart, liver, diaphragm, and right lung. The district attorney charged Mendoza with the crime. The information alleged five counts: (1) first-degree premeditated murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 1891); (2) discharging a firearm at a person from a motor vehicle (former § 12034, subd. (c)); (3) being a felon in possession of a firearm (on a separate occasion—Aug. 25, 2011, four days after the shooting) (former § 12021, subd. (a)(1)); (4) being a felon in possession of ammunition (also on Aug. 25, 2011) (former § 12316, subd. (b)(1)); and (5) actively participating in a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (a)). In connection with count 1, the information…