People v. Cortes

174 Cal. App. 4th 1335
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 17, 2009
DocketB206770
StatusPublished

This text of 174 Cal. App. 4th 1335 (People v. Cortes) 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. Cortes, 174 Cal. App. 4th 1335 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

174 Cal.App.4th 1335 (2009)

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
BENITO CORTES, Defendant and Appellant.

No. B206770.

Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Five.

June 16, 2009.
As modified June 17, 2009.
CERTIFIED FOR PARTIAL PUBLICATION[*]

*1337 Eric R. Larson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Jason Tran and Stephanie C. Brenan, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

TURNER, P. J.—

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant, Benito Cortes, appeals from a judgment after a jury convicted him of first degree murder (Pen. Code,[1] § 187, subd. (a)) (count one) and attempted willful, deliberate, premeditated murder (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a)) (count two). The murder victim was Vincent Villa. The attempted murder victim was Tommy Iles. The jury also found true allegations a principal personally used a firearm (§ 12022.53, subds. (b), (e)) (both counts); a principal personally and intentionally discharged a firearm (§ 12022.53, subds. (c), (e)(1)) (both counts); a principal personally and intentionally discharged a firearm proximately causing Mr. Villa's death (§ 12022.53, subds. (d), (e)) (count one); and the crimes were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(A)) (both counts). Defendant received a sentence of 60 years to life consecutive to a life sentence plus 30 years. Defendant argues there is insufficient evidence that one of the "primary activities" of his gang consisted of murder or attempted murder so that the true finding on the gang allegations for both counts must be reversed; the trial court erred in imposing sentence under both sections 12022.53, subdivision (d) and 186.22, subdivision (b) because there was no finding that defendant personally used a firearm; reversal of the street gang allegations requires reversal of the section 12022.53 enhancements; if there is sufficient evidence to support the gang allegations, the abstract of judgment should be amended to reflect that the section 12022.53 enhancements were imposed under subdivisions (c), (d), and (e)(1) rather than only subdivisions (c) and (d); and the oral restitution fine orders must be reversed because they failed to select an amount of the fine. The Attorney General argues that the abstract of judgment must be corrected to impose two $20 court security fees pursuant to section 1465.8.

*1338 In the published portion of the opinion we hold there is substantial evidence defendant's gang meets the definition of a "criminal street gang" set forth in section 186.22, subdivision (f). Specifically, we reject defendant's argument the record does not contain substantial evidence that one of his gang's primary activities is conduct specified in section 186.22, subdivision (e)(1) through (25) and (31) through (33). In the unpublished portion of the opinion, we make certain sentencing modifications but otherwise affirm the judgment.

II. BACKGROUND

A. The Shootings

We view the evidence in a light most favorable to the judgment. (Jackson v. Virginia (1979) 443 U.S. 307, 319 [61 L.Ed.2d 560, 99 S.Ct. 2781]; People v. Elliot (2005) 37 Cal.4th 453, 466 [35 Cal.Rptr.3d 759, 122 P.3d 968]; Taylor v. Stainer (9th Cir. 1994) 31 F.3d 907, 908-909.) On February 9, 2005, at approximately 4:15 p.m., Mr. Villa and Mr. Iles were shot as they exited a liquor store located at Palos Verdes and 11th Streets in San Pedro. Mr. Villa was shot multiple times and died from his wounds. Mr. Iles had a superficial wound to his side. A latent print lifted from the bathroom of a nearby boardinghouse where the assailants had run was matched to the codefendant Luis Aurello Garcia. Latent prints lifted from a gun found outside the boardinghouse matched those of defendant.

Daniel Sarmiento was in the area of Palos Verdes and 11th Streets on February 9, 2005, at around 4:15 p.m. just before the shootings. Mr. Sarmiento was a friend of Mr. Iles, who belonged to a street gang. Mr. Iles's gang was a coalition of one African-American and one Hispanic gang. Mr. Iles's gang was a rival of defendant's gang. Mr. Sarmiento saw Mr. Iles walking towards the liquor store. Mr. Sarmiento also knew defendant. Defendant drove by in a gray Nissan four times. The Nissan belonged to defendant. The first time defendant was with his girlfriend. The second and third times that defendant drove by he was alone in the car. Defendant then drove by a fourth time with three male passengers. The three male passengers were wearing bandanas covering their faces. Defendant was not wearing a bandana.

Mr. Sarmiento believed something was about to happen and started walking towards the store to warn Mr. Iles. Before reaching the store, Mr. Sarmiento saw defendant standing outside the car. Defendant was wearing a bandana over his face from the nose down. Mr. Sarmiento saw Mr. Iles (who was African-American), Mr. Villa (who was a Latino), and a third man (who was African-American) walk from the liquor store. *1339 Mr. Sarmiento heard four gunshots and saw Mr. Villa fall to the ground after the first shot. After the fourth shot, Mr. Iles pulled out a gun and fired back at his assailants.

Another eyewitness was a friend of Mr. Villa. Just before the shooting, Mr. Villa's friend was walking towards the liquor store. While approaching the liquor store, Mr. Villa's friend saw defendant's Nissan circle the block. There were three people inside the Nissan who had their faces covered with blue bandanas. The driver got out of the car and fired five or six gunshots at Mr. Iles. Mr. Villa was not a gang member. Mr. Villa also had African-American friends. About a week before the shootings, gang graffiti was written on Mr. Villa's garage. Mr. Villa's friend also saw rival gang graffiti written and crossed out on the garage. Mr. Villa's friend knew that the rival gang initials were those of the two African-American gangs.

Another witness saw the shooting as he was leaving an apartment building that overlooked 11th Street. The witness saw two Latinos fire four to five shots from handguns and then heard the sound of a different gunshot. The witness was unable to identify defendant as the gunman from a photograph. However, at trial, the witness testified that defendant and Mr. Garcia looked like the gunmen.

Los Angeles Police Department Detective Fernando Rivas testified that the shoes of Rommell Lenigan were found at the shooting scene. Mr. Lenigan was a member of defendant's gang. In fact, Mr. Lenigan, who used two different monikers, was a member of the same clique within the gang as defendant. Mr. Lenigan also had tattoos on his stomach which refer to a public housing project in San Pedro. The public housing project is where many of defendant's fellow gang members congregate.

B. Gang Testimony

Detective Rivas testified on behalf of the prosecution concerning defendant's gang and its relationship to the killing of Mr. Villa and the wounding of Mr. Iles. While employed by the Los Angeles Police Department, Detective Rivas spent eight years assigned strictly to gang units. Detective Rivas was assigned to the gangs involved in this case. Detective Rivas had investigated over 200 gang crimes within the last seven years.

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Bluebook (online)
174 Cal. App. 4th 1335, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-cortes-calctapp-2009.