People v. Ayala CA2/1

Filed 8/6/25 P. v. Ayala CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, B338281

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA502469) v.

JOSE ANTONIO MALIK AYALA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Ray G. Jurado, Judge. Affirmed. Richard B. Lennon, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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I The People charged defendant Jose Antonio Malik Ayala (aka King Ayala) with one count of battery causing serious bodily injury for an attack he committed on September 19, 2021. (Pen. Code, § 243, subd. (d).)1 According to the probation report, the victim, Edward B., told police officers that as he was walking on Hollywood Boulevard talking on his cell phone, an unknown man walked up behind him and said something about a cell phone. Edward felt the man was coming close to him, so, as a safety precaution, he turned to enter a nearby restaurant. Just as he crossed the threshold of the restaurant, the man began punching him, hitting him in the head and face about 10 times. When officers encountered him shortly thereafter, Edward’s left eye was swollen shut. He had a laceration above the eye and another on his neck, and he complained of pain to his arm, which he had used to block the attack. Employees of the restaurant identified the assailant as Ayala, a regular customer. Proceedings in the case were suspended for most of the next two years after defense counsel declared a doubt as to Ayala’s competence to stand trial. In February 2024, the mental health court declared Ayala competent, and shortly thereafter, Ayala agreed to a plea bargain in which he pleaded no contest to battery causing serious bodily injury. Pursuant to the deal, the court imposed the middle term sentence of three years. Ayala filed a timely notice of appeal, and this court issued an order limiting the scope of the appeal to issues appealable without a certificate of probable cause.