Rihanna shooting suspect pleads not guilty to 14-count indictment
Ivanna Ortiz, 36, pleaded not guilty to all 14 counts in a new indictment over a March shooting at Rihanna's home, after the charging document was unsealed on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
The indictment, returned by a grand jury, retains the previously filed charge of attempted murder of Rihanna. If convicted as charged, Ortiz faces up to life in state prison, prosecutors said Rolling Stone.
The new charges expand the firearms allegations. The indictment includes three felony counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper, a charge that covers firing at an occupied house or vehicle. It also upgrades 10 previously filed assault charges to allege use of an assault weapon. Those counts had previously been charged as assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
Prosecutors upgraded the firearms charges after an expert examined the weapon recovered in the case, according to statements in court. Ortiz worked as a licensed speech pathologist in California before the alleged attack.
A police report alleged that shots fired during the March 8 incident pierced the nursery inside Rihanna's home and the windshield of an Airstream trailer parked in the driveway. Investigators found six bullet holes in the vehicle gate at the property and a seventh in a pedestrian gate. Witnesses reported seeing a white Tesla Model 3 with a paper licence plate leaving the area.
Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott told the court that Ortiz had one intended target and wanted to kill Rihanna. That assertion is a prosecution allegation. It has not been tested at trial.
Ortiz, described in court records as a Florida woman, was found competent to stand trial one day before the new indictment was made public. Competence is a legal finding that a defendant understands the proceedings and can assist counsel. It is separate from any finding on guilt.
She appeared in court for arraignment on the new indictment and was sent back to jail. Bail was set at $2.65 million. She is due back in court on Oct. 29 for a pretrial hearing Rolling Stone.
