SANTA MARIA - 18 year old Michael Ledesma has been in and out of the hospital since he was shot by the CHP last July near Los Alamos.
Tuesday afternoon in Santa Maria Court, Ledesma made his first court appearance to answer to the charge of attempted murder of a peace officer along with several special allegations.
With his public defender at his side, Ledesma entered a not guilty plea to the charges and to the special allegations against him.
Ledesma was stopped by the CHP last July just west of Los Alamos after his girlfriend he was riding in a car with called 911 and said she and her one year old child in the back seat of the car felt threatened by Ledesma who the girlfriend said was holding a knife and talking about suicide while driving.
The CHP says when Ledesma was stopped by the first responding officer, Ledesma got out of his car and threatened the officer with the knife, ignoring commands to drop the knife.
The CHP officer shot Ledesma who has since been receiving treatment for his gunshot wounds.
"Mr. Ledesma has been severely injured and has not been able to come to court for a significant amount of time", says Ledesma's public defender Lori Pedego.
Pedego was asked how she would characterize Ledesma's health today.
"I would say he's in very, very bad health", Pedego says, "he's got severe injuries, he has surgeries scheduled, he was gravely injured, he almost passed away a number of times."
Michael Ledesma will return to Santa Maria court on October 17 for a pre-preliminary hearing.
He remains in Santa Barbara County jail with bail set at more than $1.2 million dollars.
