People v. Orona CA3

I. BACKGROUND

Together with codefendants Enrique Oquendo, Jose Oquendo, and Jesus Jesse Orona, defendant was charged with the murder of Apolinar Martinez (§ 187). The consolidated, amended information alleged the murder charge generically, asserting that defendants committed the murder “unlawfully, and with malice aforethought.” It was further alleged that defendant and his cohorts were principals in the offense and that one or more principals were armed with a firearm (§ 12022, subd. (a)(1)), and that all defendants personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, during the commission of the crime. A special circumstance for lying in wait was also alleged (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(15). On the date set for jury selection, defendant and codefendant Jose Oquendo each pled no contest to second degree murder and admitted a related enhancement of being armed with a knife (§ 12022, subd. (b)) in exchange for dismissal of the remaining allegations. During the change of plea hearing, the trial court stated: “Now, by pleading guilty to second degree murder, it would appear to me that a Defendant is admitting either inflicting a wound that contributed to the death of the individual with…