People v. Craig CA6

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 12, 2026
DocketH053185
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Craig CA6 (People v. Craig CA6) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Craig CA6, (Cal. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

Filed 5/12/26 P. v. Craig CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, H053185 (Santa Clara County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. C2412379)

v.

DRAKE ALAN CRAIG,

Defendant and Appellant.

In 2024, appellant Drake Alan Craig pled no contest to possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code1, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)). In exchange, the trial court indicated a sentence of 120 days in county jail, to be served in the voluntary home detention program. At sentencing, the trial court stated it would deviate from its previous indicated sentence based on new information it had received from the People and indicated a higher sentence of 10 months in county jail, while offering Craig the opportunity to withdraw his plea. Craig chose not to withdraw his plea, and the trial court subsequently sentenced him to its new indicated sentence of 10 months in county jail. On appeal, Craig contends that the trial court violated his due process rights by refusing to honor the terms of his plea agreement, which he reasonably relied upon and complied with in full. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Factual Background2 On July 28, 2024, Craig was gathered with several people in a Target parking lot on Capitol Expressway in San Jose. There were numerous vehicles in the group, many of which were parked illegally. Police officers subsequently arrived on scene in response to a 911 call regarding a possible “side-show” or a possible fight. After the police detained several individuals, including Craig, two men fled in a vehicle, and the passenger, Clayton Johnson, then “foot-bailed” and continued to flee on foot from officers. After Johnson was caught, a search of his path of flight on foot revealed a loaded handgun with a large capacity magazine. The officers then searched the remaining detainees and their vehicles. A search of a Cadillac SUV, where Craig had been a passenger, revealed four additional loaded handguns, with two of the handguns located under passenger seats of the vehicle, and the remaining two handguns located in the hatchback trunk area of the vehicle. Craig had been observed with two other individuals rummaging in the trunk area when officers initially arrived on scene. Further investigation of social media postings and photos taken from earlier on the same day indicated that Craig had been photographed with Johnson; these photos depicted Johnson with a large bulge in his pants pocket consistent with the handgun containing the large capacity magazine. B. Procedural History 1. Charges and Change of Plea On July 31, 2024, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office filed a complaint charging Craig and six co-defendants with numerous firearm-related offenses stemming from the July 24, 2024 incident. Craig was charged with possession of a

2 As Craig entered his plea before a preliminary hearing was held, we draw the pertinent facts from the People’s sentencing memorandum filed in anticipation of Craig’s sentencing hearing.

2 firearm by a felon (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1); count 8); carrying a loaded firearm on his or her person or in a vehicle by a felon (§ 25850, subd. (a); count 9), and possession of ammunition by a felon (§ 30305, subd. (a)(1); count 10). At a hearing on December 17, 2024, based on the trial court’s indicated sentence of 120 days in county jail, which would be eligible for all alternative sentencing programs, including electronic monitoring, Craig entered a plea of no contest to possession of a firearm by a felon (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1); count 8). To this effect, Craig signed an advisement, waiver and plea form, where he wrote in an “X” for section 9 entitled “Plea Agreement with the District Attorney” and initialed section 11 entitled “Open Plea.” In this section, Craig checked and initialed boxes indicating that the court had provided him with “a non-binding, tentative indicated sentence” of 120 days in jail, which he would complete through the voluntary home detention program (VHDP), and up to five years of formal probation. At the hearing, after Craig’s counsel stated that he wished to plead no contest in exchange for the indicated sentence and begin serving his time on VHDP starting January 15, 2025, the trial court asked the People if they wished to put anything on the record, which the People declined. During the plea colloquy, the court stated the following: “the Court is obviously allowing you to just stay out of custody and do this time on the VHDP. However, if you fail to come to court on your sentencing date without a legal reason or justification, or if you are arrested for a new law violation, the Court will no longer be bound by the terms of this plea agreement and your plea will become an open plea to the Court. You will not be allowed to withdraw your plea and the Court can sentence you anywhere up to the max. Do you understand that, sir?”, to which Craig responded in the affirmative. In addition, after the trial court had completed the plea colloquy, the People indicated that counts 9 and 10 would be submitted for dismissal at the time of sentencing. The matter was set for sentencing on April 1, 2025.

3 2. Sentencing On March 28, 2025, the People filed a sentencing memorandum requesting that the trial court depart from its previously indicated sentence and instead impose a sentence of 364 days in county jail that would be ineligible for any early release programs. The People indicated that after Craig’s change in plea, it had received new evidence that Craig had been involved in firing a firearm in a negligent manner during a domestic violence incident on July 20, 2024, one week prior to the underlying incident in the case at issue. According to the People, the Antioch Police Department had responded to a call on July 20, 2024, reporting that a shirtless man and a woman were fighting on the street near the caller’s residence. The caller reported that he heard a gunshot as the fight was ongoing but did not see who fired the shot; however, he heard the female state “oh so you’re going to shoot me now?” before leaving in a vehicle. The caller then observed two men arriving in a car and joining the shirtless man; the three men then appeared to be searching for something in the grass. Upon the officers’ arrival on the scene, they located a spent shell casing in the grass area. The officers contacted the shirtless man, later identified as Craig, who claimed that he had been outside the residence on his own and heard a gunshot. The officers observed scratches on Craig’s face and chest, which Craig claimed to have received from jumping over a fence after hearing the gunshot; however, the officers determined the scratches were not consistent with Craig’s version of events. The People further indicated that while the Antioch police report was provided as part of discovery for the current case, it was only after the crime lab tested the firearms retrieved from Craig’s vehicle that one of the firearms was found to be a high probability match to the shell casing retrieved from the Antioch incident. In addition, according to Craig’s criminal history, he had been arrested for gun possession five times since 2019 and had most recently failed judicial diversion in a misdemeanor theft case. Based on these factors, the People argued that Craig had a high risk of recidivism, showed little signs of

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Craig CA6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-craig-ca6-calctapp-2026.