(HC) Torres v. Montgomery

I. BACKGROUND/PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

On October 13, 2010, Torres, along with co-defendants Rudolfo Raymond Ortega, Jr., and Jesus Antonio Vidrio, was charged with the murder of Humberto Padilla (Count 1); the attempted murder of minor R.E.1 (Count 2); and assault with a semiautomatic firearm against minor K.W. (Count 3). The information alleged as to Counts 1 and 2 that the defendants: 1) personally and intentionally discharged a firearm that proximately caused great bodily injury

and death to Padilla; and 2) committed the crimes for the benefit of a criminal street gang. The information further alleged as to Count 3 that Torres and Ortega personally used a firearm. On

This Court will, like the California Court of Appeal, identify the living victims who were minors by their initials to protect their anonymity. direct appeal of his conviction, the California Court of Appeal laid out the following facts underlying the charges against Torres: The information was based on an incident that occurred on March 5, 2010. That afternoon, then–17–year–old Humberto “Beto” Padilla (Padilla) and his mother’s boyfriend, Alton Johnson, went to Alex Guizar’s grandmother’s house “down the…