People v. Bowman CA3

DISCUSSION

I There Was Sufficient Evidence Defendant Discharged A Firearm In A Grossly Negligent Manner Defendant contends there was insufficient evidence he “willfully discharge[d] a firearm in a grossly negligent manner which could result in injury or death to a person” (Pen. Code, § 246.3, subd. (a)), because there was no evidence of risk of injury to anybody. The “bottom line,” he argues, is “that without some testimony that pellets to a truck had any ability to hit someone,” there was insufficient evidence to support this conviction. But there was such evidence. Defendant fired a sawed-off shotgun in a residential neighborhood immediately after he left Mercado’s duplex. At least five people were around and heard the shot, which occurred in June at 10 p.m. Shooting a firearm in an area where people are close by presents a high risk of injury or death. (See People v. Alonzo (1993) 13 Cal.App.4th 535, 537-538, 540 ([shooting a gun into the air at 2 a.m. in

3 a commercial business district with people present was “grossly negligent behavior [that] could have resulted in injury or death to a person”].) The fact that defendant fired into Kelley’s truck does not help him.…