People v. Cornejo CA3

BACKGROUND

A. The Underlying Conviction For expediency, we will incorporate relevant information from the published opinion in defendant’s prior appeal, People v. Cornejo (2016) 3 Cal.App.5th 36 (Cornejo): “Deandre Ellison was shot to death as he drove into his driveway in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood of Sacramento. Four other men, including Latrele Neal, were also in Ellison’s car. Before the car came to a stop in the driveway, an SUV driven by Jesse Cornejo slowly drove past Ellison’s house; the SUV’s front and backseat passengers, Adam Cornejo and Isaac Vasquez, opened fire on Ellison’s car. Neal managed to return fire with Ellison’s gun before the SUV drove away. About 20 bullets were exchanged between the vehicles. Bullets also struck Ellison’s house. Ellison was the only casualty. After crashing the SUV while being pursued by law enforcement, Adam, Jesse, and Isaac were taken into custody a short time later. Each was a Norteño gang member. Isaac was 16 years old with a developmental disability; Adam and Jesse were 17 and 18 years old, respectively. “Adam, Jesse, and Isaac were tried together and convicted by jury of one count of second degree murder (Pen. Code, §…