People v. Angel G. CA4/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 25, 2020
DocketE071386N
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Angel G. CA4/2 (People v. Angel G. CA4/2) 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. Angel G. CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

Filed 9/25/20 P. v. Angel G. CA4/2 First mod. order and unmodified opinion attached NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, E071386

v. (Super.Ct.No. RIF1501079)

ANGEL G., SECOND ORDER MODIFYING OPINION Defendant and Appellant. [NO CHANGE IN JUDGMENT]

THE COURT

The opinion filed in this matter on June 15, 2020, and modified on July 1, 2020, is

further modified as follows:

On page 31, first full paragraph, fifth line, replace the word “murder” with

“voluntary manslaughter”;

On page 35, third line, replace the word “murder” with “voluntary manslaughter”

1 Except for these modifications, the opinion remains unchanged. The

modifications do not effect a change in the judgment.

FIELDS J. We concur:

CODRINGTON Acting P. J.

RAPHAEL J.

2 Filed 7/1/20 P. v. Angel G. CA4/2 (first mod. order)

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

ANGEL G., ORDER MODIFYING OPINION; AND DENIAL OF PETITION Defendant and Appellant. FOR REHEARING

[NO CHANGE IN JUDGMENT]

Appellant’s petition for rehearing filed June 29, 2020, is denied. The opinion filed

in this matter on June 15, 2020, is modified as follows:

On page 27, second full paragraph, third to last line, replace the phrase “4Dub

members” with “members of Corona’s group”;

On page 34, third line, replace the word “murder” with “voluntary manslaughter”

1 Except for these modification, the opinion remains unchanged. The modifications

do not effect a change in the judgment.

FIELDS J.

We concur:

2 Filed 6/15/20 P. v. Angel G. CA4/2 (unmodified opinion)

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.

ANGEL G., OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. John D. Molloy, Judge.

Affirmed in part and reversed in part with juvenile court directions.

Donna L. Harris, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General,

A. Natasha Cortina and Kelley Johnson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and

Respondent.

1 I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant, Angel G., was 15 years old when he shot and killed 19-

year-old Jose Corona on April 30, 2015. Defendant was tried as an adult in criminal

court. In May 2018, a jury found him guilty of voluntary manslaughter in count 1 (Pen.

Code, § 190, subd. (a)1), as a lesser offense to the charge of murder, and guilty as charged

of unlawfully possessing a firearm in count 2. (§ 29820.) The jury also found that

defendant personally used a firearm in count 1 (§ 12022.5, subd. (a)) but found a gang

allegation in count 1 not true. (§186.22, subd. (b).)

On September 21, 2018, defendant was sentenced to 16 years in state prison: six

years (the upper term) on count 1 plus 10 years for the personal use enhancement. A

two-year term (the middle term) was stayed on count 2. The court also imposed various

fines and fees.

At trial, defendant claimed he shot and killed Corona in self-defense or in defense

of others, and the jury was instructed on the right of self-defense and defense of others

pursuant to CALCRIM No. 505. In this appeal, defendant claims and we agree that the

trial court prejudicially erred in instructing the jury on the “mutual combat” and “initial

aggressor” exceptions to the right of self-defense, pursuant to CALCRIM No. 3471.

As we explain, CALCRIM No. 3471 was erroneously given because insufficient

evidence showed that there was any mutual agreement or mutual intention to engage in

mutual combat, or that defendant and his cohorts were the initial aggressors in any

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 confrontation, before defendant shot and killed Corona and his right to claim that the

killing was justified in self-defense or in defense of others arose. The instructional error

was prejudicial because there is a reasonable probability that the jury would have agreed

that defendant shot and killed Corona in self-defense or in defense of others, had

CALCRIM No. 3471 not been given. Thus, we reverse defendant’s voluntary

manslaughter conviction in count 1 and the personal use enhancement on that conviction.

Defendant also raises three claims of sentencing error, which the People and we

agree have merit: (1) the order requiring defendant to pay $1,500 for the costs of his

presentence incarceration was unauthorized (§ 1203.1c) and must be stricken from the

judgment; (2) the language in the sentencing minute order prohibiting defendant from

owning, possessing, or controlling any “deadly weapons” or “related paraphernalia” was

unauthorized (§ 29810) and must also be stricken from the judgment; and (3) on remand,

defendant must be allowed an opportunity to show that he is unable to pay a total of

$954.53 in fines and fees, which were imposed at sentencing without a determination of

his ability to pay them. (People v. Dueñas (2019) 30 Cal.App.5th 1157.)

On September 30, 2018, while this appeal was pending, the Governor signed

Senate Bill 1391, which, effective January 1, 2019, amended the Welfare and Institutions

Code to prohibit juveniles from being tried in adult court for specified crimes, including

the crimes charged here, if the juvenile was under the age of 16 when he or she

3 committed the crimes.2 In this appeal, defendant claims and the People and we agree that

Senate Bill 1391 applies retroactively to judgments, which were not final on appeal when

the legislation became effective on January 1, 2019—including defendant’s judgment.

Accordingly, we reverse defendant’s sentence and remand the matter to the

juvenile court with directions to treat defendant’s convictions as juvenile court

adjudications, to impose an appropriate juvenile court disposition, and to conduct further

proceedings, as appropriate and consistent with this opinion.

II. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. Prosecution Evidence
1. Gang and Background Evidence

A gang expert testified that, at the time of the April 2015 shooting, 4Dub was a

criminal street gang, which began around 2011 as a “party slash tagging crew.” 4Dub

had around 20 members, and defendant was an active 4Dub member in 2015. 4Dub did

not get along with two other criminal street gangs, Wicked Minded Soldiers (WMS) and

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