Preliminary hearing evidence was insufficient to support adding a conspiracy to commit murder count to the information over defense objection. The Court also affirmed defendant’s murder and attempted murder convictions, finding no ineffective assistance of counsel where trial counsel had a strategic reason for permitting the introduction of a co-defendant’s confession and any prosecutorial misstatement regarding premeditation was harmless. Finally, the indeterminate sentence on the attempted murder conviction was proper despite the failure to allege that the attempt was willful and premeditated, as defense otherwise had sufficient notice and the jury properly rendered the required true finding.

The full opinion is available on the court’s website here: https://www4.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B329413.PDF