People v. Vasquez CA4/1

Filed 7/10/25 P. v. Vasquez CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D085867

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. Nos. RIF2003172, RIJ1300070) SAMUEL VASQUEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County, Bernard Schwartz, Judge. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with directions. Cynthia M. Jones, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, A. Natasha Cortina and Kelley Johnson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. Samuel Vasquez was convicted of a dozen offenses, including murder and attempted murder. On appeal, he challenges the life sentence imposed

for attempted murder on count 12 and the gang enhancements imposed on the two counts of murder. He also seeks to correct clerical errors in the abstract of judgment and the language in two verdict forms. The People concede error on all but the verdict form issue. Resolving this matter by memorandum opinion (see People v. Garcia (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 847, 851- 854), we accept the People’s concessions, modify the judgment, and reverse and remand with directions. We otherwise affirm. I. A jury convicted Vasquez of two counts of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187(a); counts 1 & 2); five counts of attempted murder (§§ 664/187(a); counts 3, 4, 5, 6 & 12); four counts of assault with a firearm (§ 245(a)(2); counts 7, 8, 9 & 10), and one count of discharging a firearm at an occupied building (§ 246; count 11.) On counts 1 and 2, the jury found Vasquez was present during the murders for gang purposes (§ 190.2(a)(22)) and the special circumstance of multiple murders within a single case (§ 190.2(a)(3)). In a separate trial, the court also found true “gang gun” allegations attached to counts 1 and 2. (§ 12022.53(d) & (e).) On counts 1, 2, and 4 through 12, the court found Vasquez committed the offenses for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang. (§ 186.22(b)(1)(C).) The court sentenced Vasquez to prison for two indeterminate terms of life without the possibility of parole with an aggregate indeterminate term of 207 years to life and an aggregate determinate term of 40 years. II. Vasquez’s grounds for appeal fall into four groups. He argues (1) the life sentence imposed on count 12 is unauthorized because the jury did not find he committed premeditated attempted murder; (2) the 10-year gang enhancements imposed under section 186.22(b) on counts 1 and 2 must be