People v. Carranco CA5

INTRODUCTION

This is a consolidated appeal brought by Javier Carranco, Jr., and Miguel Valencia Madrigal (defendants) in relation to two shootings occurring within approximately an hour of each other. First, a motorist was having car trouble when a car passed by and stopped in the street in front of him. The front seat passenger of the passing car fired multiple shots in the motorist’s direction; the motorist was not injured. Shortly thereafter, a few miles away, gunshots were fired into a house with multiple people inside. Police apprehended defendants in a nearby car after they attempted to flee when the police tried to stop them. The police found an AK-47 style assault rifle and a revolver in the car. The rifle was warm to the touch and forensic analysis revealed the shell casings of the rifle’s bullets matched the casings found at the house where the drive-by shooting occurred. In connection with the shootings, a jury convicted both defendants of multiple counts of assault with a firearm, discharge of a firearm at an inhabited dwelling, gang conspiracy,1 recklessly evading a pursuing officer in a motor vehicle, possession of an assault weapon, carrying a loaded firearm as a…