P. v. Ruiz
A jury convicted defendant of assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the gang offense of carrying a loaded firearm in public, and street terrorism. The jury acquitted defendant of attempted murder. The jury concluded defendant committed the offenses for the benefit of a criminal street gang and the trial court found he suffered two prior “strike” convictions, both for serious felonies, and had served two prior prison terms. The trial court exercised its discretion to strike one of the strikes and sentenced Ruiz to a total prison term of 25 years.
Defendant contends the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury sua sponte that an initial aggressor regains the right of self-defense if the victim escalates a simple assault by responding with deadly force. Court rejected this contention because no reasonable juror could conclude the victim’s attempt to disarm Ruiz constituted excessive, unreasonable, or otherwise unlawful force. Therefore, no right of self-defense arose for Ruiz as the aggressor. Ruiz preserves a claim of sentencing error under Blakely v. Washington for federal review. Finally, the Attorney General concedes the trial court improperly imposed two prior prison term enhancements (one year each) while imposing prior serious felony enhancements on the same convictions. Accordingly, court affirmed the judgment and remanded with directions to correct the sentence.
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