People v. Lopez CA4/3

Filed 10/21/25 P. v. Lopez CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G062925

v. (Super. Ct. No. 21CF0679)

JESUS ANGEL LOPEZ, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Lance P. Jensen, Judge. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded. Pauline E. Villanueva, 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 Alan L. Amann, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

In 2021, the Legislature enacted Assembly Bill No. 333 (2021– 2022 Reg. Sess.) (Assembly Bill 333), which increased the evidentiary requirements for proving gang offenses and enhancements by amending Penal Code section 186.22. (Stats. 2021, ch. 699, § 4)1 Recently, in People v. Fletcher (2025) 18 Cal.5th 576 (Fletcher), the California Supreme Court held those requirements apply when determining whether a conviction that predated Assembly Bill 333 can be used for certain sentencing purposes. In this case, it is undisputed there is insufficient evidence defendant Jesus Angel Lopez’s prior convictions meet those more stringent requirements. Therefore, the trial court erred by using those convictions to increase Lopez’s sentence. Under the authority of Fletcher, we reverse in part, vacate in part, and remand for resentencing. In all other respects, we affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In the early morning hours of January 16, 2021, Lopez fired multiple gunshots at a group of people standing outside an apartment complex in Santa Ana. One of the shots hit a teenager in the thigh and another struck a man in the foot. Lopez fled to Mexico, but he was apprehended and turned over to local authorities in March 2021. In 2023, a jury convicted Lopez of three counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. (§§ 245, subd. (b), 29800, subd. (a)(1).) It also found true allegations Lopez used a firearm and inflicted great bodily injury during his crimes. (§§ 12022.5, subd. (a), 12022.7, subd. (a).) In a bifurcated bench trial, the trial court found Lopez had previously suffered two gang-related convictions, in 2015 and 2019. More