People v. Adams CA4/2

California Court of Appeal·Decided October 26, 2023·No. E079691·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 10/26/23 P. v. Adams CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, E079691

v. (Super.Ct.No. FVI800765)

GABRIEL ANTHONY ADAMS, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. Kawika Smith,

Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions.

William D. Farber, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney

General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Alan Amann and Daniel

Rogers, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

1 I.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Gabriel Anthony Adams appeals from an order

summarily denying his petition to vacate his voluntary manslaughter conviction and be

resentenced under Penal Code section 1172.6.1 He contends that the trial court erred in

denying his petition without issuing an order to show cause and conducting an

evidentiary hearing because his record of conviction does not conclusively establish his

ineligibility as a matter of law. Defendant also argues his trial counsel was ineffective in

stipulating to defendant’s ineligibility at the prima facie stage. Based on our independent

review, we find the trial court erred in denying defendant’s petition at the prima facie

stage. We thus reverse the order and remand the matter to the trial court with directions

to issue an order to show cause and hold an evidentiary hearing under section 1172.6,

subdivision (d).2

1 Subsequent unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code. Defendant filed his petition for resentencing under former section 1170.95, which the Legislature later renumbered to section 1172.6 without substantive change. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) We hereafter cite to section 1172.6 for ease of reference.

2 Because we find the trial court erred in impliedly engaging in factfinding at the prima facie stage, we need not address defendant’s claim his counsel was ineffective.

2 II.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND3

On April 6, 2008, at approximately 12:30 a.m., sheriff’s dispatch received multiple

911 calls for shots heard and a gunshot victim in the area of Hohokam Road in the city of

Apple Valley. Deputies arrived and found the victim on the sidewalk in front of a home,

bleeding from a gunshot wound to his upper chest. Fire personnel arrived on scene and

transported the victim to a hospital, where he died from the gunshot wound.

Following an investigation, detectives learned the victim and several of his friends

attended a party at a home on Hohokam Road, along with a second group of people that

included defendant and codefendants, Matthew Santos and Jose Acosta. During the

party, the victim and Acosta got into an argument inside the residence. The two

eventually moved to the backyard and engaged in a fist fight. The argument and fist fight

were witnessed by multiple individuals. The victim was the reported winner of the fight,

with Acosta receiving a split lip. Defendant and his cohorts were later ejected and told to

leave the party. As they left, the group made comments they would return, and that “the

others did not know what was coming to them.”

Defendant and Santos got into Acosta’s vehicle and returned to their own

residence, where they picked up a fourth person, codefendant Steve Martinez. When they

arrived at their home, defendant asked Santos if he still had a gun. Santos indicated he

3 The factual background is taken verbatim from this court’s nonpublished opinion in defendant’s prior nonpublished appeal, case No. E072512. (People v. Adams (Feb. 25, 2020, E072512) (Adams II).) We took judicial notice of our prior nonpublished opinions in case Nos. E052681 and E072512.

3 did, and defendant told him to get the gun. Santos looked to Acosta and asked him if he

should get the gun, and Acosta told him yes. Santos thereafter retrieved a 20-gauge

shotgun and ammunition and placed the items in the trunk of Acosta’s vehicle. Martinez

agreed to go with the other three to get revenge on the victim for beating up Acosta.

While en route back to the party, defendant confirmed with Santos that he brought

the shotgun with them. All four occupants in the vehicle had knowledge the shotgun was

in the car. When they arrived at the residence, they saw a sheriff’s vehicle in the street

and waited for it to leave. Once it was gone, Acosta drove the vehicle down the street to

the front of the party, and they all got out.

The victim and his friends were hanging out in the street in front of the residence.

Defendant and Martinez approached the victim and his friends, and the two groups

exchanged words. Defendant yelled for Santos to “‘bring it out,’ meaning to get the gun,

and [Acosta] opened the trunk.” Santos put socks over his hands, grabbed the .20-gauge

shotgun, loaded it, and then walked towards the two groups with the shotgun at his side.

As Santos neared the group, he raised the shotgun. Defendant told Martinez to

move, and Martinez stepped to the side. Santos pointed the shotgun at the victim and

said, “‘What now?’” Meanwhile, defendant and the rest of his codefendants encouraged

Santos to shoot the victim. Santos pulled the trigger and shot the victim in the chest.

Santos ran from the shooting with the shotgun and met defendant in a vacant field.

Thereafter, they ran back to their residence where they met Martinez and Acosta and

concealed the shotgun and ammunition. All four talked about the incident and what they

4 would say if questioned by police. Santos was identified as the shooter and admitted to

shooting the victim during an interview.

On May 5, 2008, an information was filed charging defendant and his three

codefendants with murder (§ 187, subd. (a); count 1) and active participation in a

criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (a); count 2). As to count 1, the information also

alleged that a principal personally and intentionally discharged a firearm, proximately

causing great bodily injury and death to the victim (§ 12022.53, subds. (d) & (e)(1)); that

a principal personally and intentionally discharged a firearm (§ 12022.53, subds. (c) &

(e)(1)); that a principal personally used a firearm (§ 12022.53, subds. (b) & (e)(1)); and

that the offense was committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association

with a criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in

criminal conduct by gang members (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(C)).

On July 23, 2010, the People amended the information by interlineation to add

count 3, voluntary manslaughter (§ 192, subd. (a)), with attendant allegations that

defendant personally used a firearm (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)) and that the offense was

committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street

gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(C)). Pursuant to a negotiated disposition, defendant

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