People v. Harper CA4/2
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Opinion
Filed 1/16/15 P. v. Harper 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, E057649
v. (Super.Ct.No. RIF10006084)
WALTER LEE HARPER, JR., OPINION
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Richard T. Fields, Judge.
Affirmed with directions.
Robert Franklin Howell, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant
and Appellant.
Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney
General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland and Teresa
Torreblanca, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
1 A jury convicted defendant, Walter Harper, of attempted willful, deliberate and
premeditated murder (Pen. Code, §§ 664/187),1 during which he discharged a firearm,
causing great bodily injury (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)), possession of a shotgun by an ex-
felon (§ 12021, subd. (a)(1)), possession of a rifle by an ex-felon (§ 12021, subd. (a)(1)),
possession of a destructive device (§ 12303), possession of ammunition by an ex-felon
(§ 12316, subd. (b)(1)), and active participation in a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd.
(a)). As to the attempted murder and the firearms possessions, the jury made true
findings that these crimes were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang
(§ 186.22, subd. (b)). In bifurcated proceedings, defendant admitted suffering four prior
convictions for which he served prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)), one serious felony
conviction (§ 667, subd. (a)) and two strike priors (§ 667, subds. (c) & (e)(2)(a)). He was
sentenced to prison for 25 years to life, plus three 15 years to life terms, plus 13 years,
four months. He appeals, contending that evidence was improperly admitted and
insufficient evidence supports his convictions. We reject his contentions and affirm,
while directing the trial court to correct errors in its minutes and the abstracts of
judgment.
1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.
2 FACTS2
1. The Attempted Murder, Active Gang Participation and Gang Enhancements as
to the Attempted Murder and Firearms Possessions
A Riverside Police Department officer, who had spent almost all of his 13 years
on the force in the Casa Blanca neighborhood of Riverside, testified that in February
2010, Raymond Howard, a member of 2800 Blocc Crips (2800), had been murdered by
an Hispanic man who was powerful in either the Evans Street gang or the Fern Street
gang on Evans Street turf. The officer had heard on the street that Howard’s killer had
been collecting taxes, presumably, for the Mexican Mafia, and Howard was killed
because he had refused to pay them. The killer disappeared after the murder. Before this
murder, ninety-nine percent of the crime in Casa Blanca had been a result of fighting
between members of a clique of Fern Street and members of Evans Street. While there
had been minor flare ups between 2800 and Fern Street or Evans Street, there had been
nothing major. However, after Howard’s murder, 2800 members were, for the first time,
seen in enemy territory, including Evans Street turf, which suggested to the officer that
2800 members were out looking for someone and there was going to be retaliation.
Based on the officer’s training and experience, he opined that if a 2800 member had been
killed by either a member of Evans Street or Fern Street, he would expect a retaliation,
which would target the killer, but if the killer could not be located, another member of the
2 There were several instances during this trial where the trial court and the parties failed to put on the record the exhibit number for a recording which was being played for the jury. Greater care should be taken to insure that there are no such ambiguities in the record.
3 gang would be targeted. He testified that all members of Evans Street lived in Casa
Blanca and were highly visible there, while members of the clique of Fern Street were
not. The officer testified that the victim of the instant attempted murder was a member of
Evans Street. He said that defendant was considered to be one of the leaders or “shot
callers” of 2800. By October 29, 2010, he had heard from people in the community the
identity of the person who had shot the victim.
The victim testified to the following: He was a years-long member of the Evans
Street clique of the Casa Blanca gang.3 In the Casa Blanca neighborhood of Riverside,
there are three gangs—Evans Street, Fern Street and 2800. Evans Street’s biggest rival
was Fern Street4—if Fern Street members came into Evans Street turf, something bad,
like an assault, would happen. Although 2800 members were not rivals with Evans
Street, they did not hang out in Evans Street turf. Admitted not for its truth, but to
explain what the victim did after receiving the information, someone in Evans Street told
the victim that Howard, a 2800,5 had been killed in Evans Street turf, which created a
problem between Evans Street and 2800.6 Months before he was shot, the victim had
3 The prosecution’s gang expert corroborated this.
4 The prosecution’s gang expert corroborated this.
5The prosecution’s gang expert testified that Howard was at least an associate of 2800, and was, perhaps, a soldier of the gang.
6The prosecution’s gang expert testified that one of 2800’s rivals was Casa Blanca Rifa, which was composed of Evens Street and Fern Street. He also testified that [footnote continued on next page]
4 been told by fellow gang members to watch out for defendant, who was associated with
2800, because defendant was running around, looking for people and doing things in the
neighborhood that put Evans Street on alert.
On June 25, 2010, at 10:30 p.m., the unarmed victim went to a park in Evans
Street turf to look for his younger sister. He noticed an old small white truck with a blue
stripe on the side, similar to a truck that was parked next to defendant’s parents’ house
four days7 later, pass slowly in front of him from a distance of 8-10 feet. The victim saw
two people inside the truck, one of whom he thought was defendant, whom he had seen
about two times before. The two gave the victim mad looks and the truck sped up, then
made a u-turn and approached the victim slowly from behind. The truck stopped 8-10
feet in front of the victim and the victim was positive8 that defendant was in the driver’s
seat, while another person was in the passenger seat. Sixteen to eighteen inches of a
[footnote continued from previous page] before Howard’s murder, there was a relative truce between 2800 and Evans Street and Fern Street.
7Defendant’s friend testified that he and defendant lived at defendant’s parents’ home in June 2010 and the friend owned a white Toyota truck with a brown stripe, which was parked in the driveway of an abandoned house next door to defendant’s parents’ home on June 29, 2010.
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Filed 1/16/15 P. v. Harper 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, E057649
v. (Super.Ct.No. RIF10006084)
WALTER LEE HARPER, JR., OPINION
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Richard T. Fields, Judge.
Affirmed with directions.
Robert Franklin Howell, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant
and Appellant.
Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney
General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland and Teresa
Torreblanca, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
1 A jury convicted defendant, Walter Harper, of attempted willful, deliberate and
premeditated murder (Pen. Code, §§ 664/187),1 during which he discharged a firearm,
causing great bodily injury (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)), possession of a shotgun by an ex-
felon (§ 12021, subd. (a)(1)), possession of a rifle by an ex-felon (§ 12021, subd. (a)(1)),
possession of a destructive device (§ 12303), possession of ammunition by an ex-felon
(§ 12316, subd. (b)(1)), and active participation in a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd.
(a)). As to the attempted murder and the firearms possessions, the jury made true
findings that these crimes were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang
(§ 186.22, subd. (b)). In bifurcated proceedings, defendant admitted suffering four prior
convictions for which he served prison terms (§ 667.5, subd. (b)), one serious felony
conviction (§ 667, subd. (a)) and two strike priors (§ 667, subds. (c) & (e)(2)(a)). He was
sentenced to prison for 25 years to life, plus three 15 years to life terms, plus 13 years,
four months. He appeals, contending that evidence was improperly admitted and
insufficient evidence supports his convictions. We reject his contentions and affirm,
while directing the trial court to correct errors in its minutes and the abstracts of
judgment.
1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.
2 FACTS2
1. The Attempted Murder, Active Gang Participation and Gang Enhancements as
to the Attempted Murder and Firearms Possessions
A Riverside Police Department officer, who had spent almost all of his 13 years
on the force in the Casa Blanca neighborhood of Riverside, testified that in February
2010, Raymond Howard, a member of 2800 Blocc Crips (2800), had been murdered by
an Hispanic man who was powerful in either the Evans Street gang or the Fern Street
gang on Evans Street turf. The officer had heard on the street that Howard’s killer had
been collecting taxes, presumably, for the Mexican Mafia, and Howard was killed
because he had refused to pay them. The killer disappeared after the murder. Before this
murder, ninety-nine percent of the crime in Casa Blanca had been a result of fighting
between members of a clique of Fern Street and members of Evans Street. While there
had been minor flare ups between 2800 and Fern Street or Evans Street, there had been
nothing major. However, after Howard’s murder, 2800 members were, for the first time,
seen in enemy territory, including Evans Street turf, which suggested to the officer that
2800 members were out looking for someone and there was going to be retaliation.
Based on the officer’s training and experience, he opined that if a 2800 member had been
killed by either a member of Evans Street or Fern Street, he would expect a retaliation,
which would target the killer, but if the killer could not be located, another member of the
2 There were several instances during this trial where the trial court and the parties failed to put on the record the exhibit number for a recording which was being played for the jury. Greater care should be taken to insure that there are no such ambiguities in the record.
3 gang would be targeted. He testified that all members of Evans Street lived in Casa
Blanca and were highly visible there, while members of the clique of Fern Street were
not. The officer testified that the victim of the instant attempted murder was a member of
Evans Street. He said that defendant was considered to be one of the leaders or “shot
callers” of 2800. By October 29, 2010, he had heard from people in the community the
identity of the person who had shot the victim.
The victim testified to the following: He was a years-long member of the Evans
Street clique of the Casa Blanca gang.3 In the Casa Blanca neighborhood of Riverside,
there are three gangs—Evans Street, Fern Street and 2800. Evans Street’s biggest rival
was Fern Street4—if Fern Street members came into Evans Street turf, something bad,
like an assault, would happen. Although 2800 members were not rivals with Evans
Street, they did not hang out in Evans Street turf. Admitted not for its truth, but to
explain what the victim did after receiving the information, someone in Evans Street told
the victim that Howard, a 2800,5 had been killed in Evans Street turf, which created a
problem between Evans Street and 2800.6 Months before he was shot, the victim had
3 The prosecution’s gang expert corroborated this.
4 The prosecution’s gang expert corroborated this.
5The prosecution’s gang expert testified that Howard was at least an associate of 2800, and was, perhaps, a soldier of the gang.
6The prosecution’s gang expert testified that one of 2800’s rivals was Casa Blanca Rifa, which was composed of Evens Street and Fern Street. He also testified that [footnote continued on next page]
4 been told by fellow gang members to watch out for defendant, who was associated with
2800, because defendant was running around, looking for people and doing things in the
neighborhood that put Evans Street on alert.
On June 25, 2010, at 10:30 p.m., the unarmed victim went to a park in Evans
Street turf to look for his younger sister. He noticed an old small white truck with a blue
stripe on the side, similar to a truck that was parked next to defendant’s parents’ house
four days7 later, pass slowly in front of him from a distance of 8-10 feet. The victim saw
two people inside the truck, one of whom he thought was defendant, whom he had seen
about two times before. The two gave the victim mad looks and the truck sped up, then
made a u-turn and approached the victim slowly from behind. The truck stopped 8-10
feet in front of the victim and the victim was positive8 that defendant was in the driver’s
seat, while another person was in the passenger seat. Sixteen to eighteen inches of a
[footnote continued from previous page] before Howard’s murder, there was a relative truce between 2800 and Evans Street and Fern Street.
7Defendant’s friend testified that he and defendant lived at defendant’s parents’ home in June 2010 and the friend owned a white Toyota truck with a brown stripe, which was parked in the driveway of an abandoned house next door to defendant’s parents’ home on June 29, 2010. The friend testified that he told the police on December 17, 2010, that he “drives” the truck, but he leaves the keys anywhere in defendant’s parents’ house. He later testified that a particular member of the household would usually pick the keys up and lock them in his bedroom. He also testified that the truck had been inoperable all of 2010 and he had it towed to the Hills Street residence (see facts concerning possession convictions) because it was going to be ticketed at the house next door to defendant’s parents’ house.
8Besides twice testifying that he was positive, the victim added that out of a range of one through ten, his identification of defendant was a ten.
5 single barrel shotgun came out of the driver’s window, pointed at the victim, and one shot
was fired, hitting the victim’s right arm with bird shot. The truck sped off. The victim
refused to co-operate with the police at the hospital after the shooting, did not tell them
who had shot him and refused to look at pictures shown him of possible shooters,
although he told his family and friends who had done it and people in the community
were aware of the shooter’s identity. On October 29, 2010, the victim, who was on
probation, was caught with a gun, which he had been carrying for protection, by the
afore-mentioned Riverside Police officer and he was arrested. By then, the victim was
out of the Evans Street gang.
A recording of the post-arrest interview of the victim by two detectives was played
for the jury. In it, one of the detectives said they would later discuss the victim receiving
their help for possessing the gun depending on what information the victim had. The
other detective immediately asked the victim who had shot him in June 2010. The victim
said if the detectives helped him out, he would help them out. The victim told the
detectives that in June 2010, while he was looking for his younger sister, a white and blue
1990’s small truck with a long bed had passed him with two African-American men
inside, who looked at the victim “crazy.” The victim was somewhat reassured by what
he had been told, i.e., that members of Evans Street had talked to members of 2800, who
said that their fellow gang member had been killed by Fern Street, not by Evans Street.
However, the victim knew that 2800 would “turn it into a racial thing”9 and they would
9 Fern and Evans were Hispanic gangs and 2800 was an African-American gang.
6 have a hard time finding a member of Fern Street to retaliate against, so they would come
after someone in Evans Street, who was much easier to find. The victim reported that the
truck did a u-turn and returned quickly to where the victim was, then slowed down and a
sawed-off shotgun came out of the driver’s rolled down window. The shooter, who was
also the driver, was a 2800 member, was someone the victim recognized as a person he
had seen before and was someone who “everyone [said] . . . if anyone’s go[ing to] . . . do
anything, . . . it’d be him.” After one of the detectives assured the victim that they would
not “tell the streets” that the victim had talked and that the victim could face 15 years on
the gun possession, and the other detective said that the victim would not be released
from custody unless he told them something serious, like who murdered someone, and
depending on what the victim told them, they would talk to the prosecutor about how
helpful the victim was,10 the victim identified his shooter as “Wally.”11 The victim went
on to describe his shooter as being a 5-foot, 11-inch African-American with a ponytail in
his mid-to-late-thirties, whom the victim had seen previously on the streets.12 The victim
described the passenger and said he was a 2800, whom the victim had also seen before.
The victim said he had been hit with birdshot. The victim told the detectives about two
other incidents in which he was involved. One of the detectives told the victim that the
10 This detective testified that neither he nor the other detective talked to the prosecutor about the victim’s case.
11 Defendant’s given name is Walter.
12During argument to the jury, the prosecutor represented, without objection by defense counsel, that this description matched defendant.
7 prosecutor would give the victim the best deal possible, but not without help for more
than one case—and the bigger the case, the more help the victim would get. The victim
was told that he would get time for the gun possession depending on what help he gave,
but it was reiterated that the victim could not go home that night. The victim said that he,
and other Evans Street members did not like the man who was suspected of killing
Howard and he implied that this man was from Fern Street. The victim was shown a
photo lineup which contained a picture of defendant, but he said he didn’t recognize
anyone in it, then he eliminated the pictures of two of the individuals13 in the lineup, and
said that the shooter was not present in it.
The victim testified at trial that he did not pick defendant’s picture out of the photo
lineup even though he knew defendant was the shooter. He denied telling the detectives
what he told them just to tell them what they wanted to hear. One of the detectives
testified that when the victim saw defendant’s picture in the photo lineup, all the color
went out of the victim’s face, he breathed heavily and his eyes fixated on the picture.
The detective feared that the victim was going to vomit.
The victim testified that after he failed to pick out defendant’s picture in the photo
lineup, he was taken to a holding cell and he knew he was under arrest. Just before he
was transported to county jail, he asked to speak to the police officer who had arrested
him that night for possessing the gun. He told this officer and another that he saw who
13 These were not pictures of the defendant.
8 had shot him14 and that person’s name was Walt.15 He said he had not picked
defendant’s picture out previously because he was scared, but he was willing to identify
the shooter now to stop the shooter from hurting anyone else. After saying he wanted to
help the police out so they could help him out, the victim told the latter officer and a
detective that defendant had shot him and he circled defendant’s picture in the photo
lineup. The victim testified that no one told him to pick defendant’s picture and he had
no personal beef with defendant. The gun possession case, which was the victim’s first
as an adult, resulted in the victim pleading guilty to a strike, admitting a gang
enhancement and receiving five years probation, with local time.16 The victim denied
receiving any deal on the possession case for identifying defendant17 as his shooter and
he had already pled guilty by the time he testified at the preliminary hearing in this case,
during which he also identified defendant as the shooter. He denied receiving anything
for his trial testimony.18
14The former officer testified that the victim told him that the victim saw the person who shot him in the photo lineup.
15 See footnote 11, ante, page 7.
16 At the time, a juvenile gun possession case and a juvenile case involving the victim throwing a laptop at a store clerk were pending against the victim. The case agent testified that it was not unusual for a first time adult gun-possessor to receive probation.
17The case agent, who was the detective who had questioned the victim on October 29, 2010, confirmed this.
18 See footnote 10, ante, page 7.
9 A recording of the resumed interview between the detective, the latter officer and
the victim, during which the victim picked defendant’s picture out of the photo lineup,19
was played for the jury. The victim explained that he had not earlier picked out
defendant’s picture because he was afraid defendant would try again to kill him.
The victim testified that in August 2010, he and other Evans Street members had
been shot at during a confrontation with Fern Street members and members of a Fern
Streets clique.20
The prosecution’s gang expert testified that the man suspected of being Howard’s
killer was in prison, but had never been arrested for the murder.21
Other evidence concerning these crimes and enhancements will be discussed
below.
2. The Firearms/Ammunition/Destructive Device Possessions
A Riverside Police Department officer testified that on December 17, 2010, he
surveilled a residence on Hill Street in Mira Loma and saw defendant come out of it and
re-enter it, then saw defendant’s girlfriend enter it and leave it with defendant. The same
day, defendant’s friend’s truck, which the victim had testified was similar to the truck
that had been driven by defendant on June 25, 2010, was parked 50 feet outside the Hill
19 The victim said he was 100 percent sure the picture was that of the shooter.
20The police officer who arrested the victim on October 29, 2010, testified that the victim was involved in a shooting at a drive-in during which someone from Evans Street got shot by someone from Fern Street.
21 The Riverside police officer corroborated this.
10 Street residence. Despite initially responding “Yes” to the question, “On December 17
police served a search warrant on the Hill Street address where [defendant] and
[defendant’s girlfriend] . . . live[d]”, the friend later testified that defendant was still
living at his parents’ house in December, 2010.22 However, the friend did not contradict
the case agent when the latter said on December 17, 2010, that defendant had been living
at the Hill Street residence with defendant’s girlfriend “for the last months” and he knew
that defendant had been staying at that residence, he did not know for how long, but it
could have been for five months “give or take.”23 Still, on the witness stand, the friend
insisted that he thought the case agent had been asking about the friend’s brother, who
was a truck driver who stayed at the Hill Street residence between runs.
A neighbor of the Hill Street residence testified that defendant’s girlfriend lived
there and the neighbor had seen defendant there occasionally. The neighbor had told the
police on December 17, 2010, that defendant lived there. A detective testified that this
22 However, the friend conceded that every time the police went to defendant’s parents’ house after the June 2010 shooting of the victim, which was often, defendant was not there. This included a visit there on June 29, 2010 at 7:00 a.m. The case agent testified that defendant’s parents’ house was visited by police once a week, on different days of the week, immediately after the June 2010 shooting and the house was placed under surveillance.
23 The recording is unintelligible at times, but the case agent testified that his recollection of the conversation with the friend was that the latter said that defendant had been at the Hill Street residence for two-to-five months. When defense counsel cross- examined the friend, she said that the friend told the case agent that defendant “was staying [at the Hill Street residence] for a couple of months, or it could have been five months[.]”
11 neighbor described someone who fit defendant’s description, and having defendant’s first
name, as living at the Hill Street residence for six months.
At the residence, an unframed photograph of defendant holding a baby was found
in a bedroom closet. The living room of the residence contained Pittsburg Steelers
merchandise and there was a Steelers jacket in the kitchen. Defendant had a Steelers logo
tattooed on his back. Presents under the Christmas tree were marked for or from “Walt”
or “Walt and [defendant’s girlfriend’s first name].”24 There was a live shotgun round in
a kitchen drawer, and in the hall closet, a loaded 12-gauge pump action shotgun with
pistol grip, ammunition in a white canvas tote bag, including that which could shoot bird
shot, in a grocery bag, in a small black duffle bag and loose, and in a bedroom that also
contained items of dominion and control by defendant’s girlfriend, a Marlin .22 caliber
rifle in the closet and a cell phone containing pictures of defendant sitting in the living
room of the same house and a rifle on the floor of the kitchen. A destructive device was
found in the same bedroom closet. Defendant’s friend’s brother’s possessions were in
another bedroom.
Defendant’s girlfriend testified that the Steelers football team was defendant’s
favorite team, but the Steelers merchandise in her home belonged to her son, who visited
her there three-to-four times per week. She said she and defendant began dating in May
2010, and before she moved to the Hill Street residence, they often stayed in motels,
because neither had a place of their own in which to stay. She moved into the Hill Street
24 See footnote 11, ante, page 7.
12 residence in July or August 2010 and lived there, alone, although defendant visited her
there at least two times a week during the day. She denied telling the police that
defendant had lived with her at the Hill Street residence since Halloween, 2010, and that
he stayed there at least five days per week. She said she had one gun in the closet of her
bedroom and one in the hall closet, although she admitted telling the police on December
17, 2010, that there were no guns in the house. She did not know what was in the black
bag that contained all the ammunition she knew to be in her house and the two guns, but
she said she got the bag and its contents from her cousin, who later killed himself.25 She
denied knowing how to use guns or ammunition. She did not recall there being pictures
of a gun on the cell phone that was found in her bedroom and she did not recognize
several of the other pictures that were on that phone. She had no idea how a shotgun
shell got into her kitchen drawer. She did not seem to know about the canvas bag in
which ammunition was found.
During a December 17, 2010 police interview with defendant’s girlfriend, a
recording of which was played for the jury, the girlfriend admitted that all the Steelers
merchandise in the Hill Street residence was defendant’s, which she had purchased for
him. She also admitted that defendant began living at the residence in October 2010, was
there five days a week, including nights, and stayed with her most of the time. She
denied knowing about the shotgun and ammunition that was in the hall closet, the rifle in
25 She admitted that she had failed to tell both the police and the defense investigator the origin of these guns, but she claimed she did this to protect her cousin’s reputation.
13 the bedroom closet or the pictures of the rifle on the cell phone. When asked if she saw
defendant put the shotgun and ammunition in the hall closet, she stated that she was at
work all the time. She said she thought the destructive device in the bedroom closet was
a candle defendant had made for her, which had been there for two weeks. She stated she
had not used the cell phone in three months and did not know what went on when she
was at work. She said that based on the tattoos that adorned defendant’s body, she
concluded that he was a gangster, “from C[asa] B[lanca].” She stated that when the
police were following her and defendant as they drove away from the Hill Street
residence on December 17, 2010, defendant acknowledged that the police were there for
him and he pulled over without the police having to use their sirens or lights.
Defendant could not be excluded as the contributor of the DNA on the Marlin
rifle26 or the shotgun found at the Hill Street residence.
ISSUES AND DISCUSSION
1. Admission of Gang Evidence
“A verdict or finding shall not be set aside, nor shall the judgment or decision
based thereon be reversed, by reason of the erroneous admission of evidence unless:
[¶] (a) There appears of record an objection to or a motion to exclude or to strike the
evidence that was timely made and so stated as to make clear the specific grounds of the
objection or motion; and [¶] (b) The court which passes upon the effect of the error or
errors is of the opinion that the admitted evidence should have been excluded on the
26 One in 330 African-American males had the same DNA profile.
14 ground stated and that the error or errors complained of resulted in a miscarriage of
justice.”
California Rules of Court, Rule 8.204(a) states, “(1) Each brief must: [¶] . . . [¶]
(C) Support any reference to a matter in the record by a citation to the volume and page
number of the record where the matter appears.”
We quote the above provisions because not once in the 22 pages27 appellate
counsel devotes to the admission of gang evidence in his opening brief does he make an
express reference to any instance of defense counsel at trial objecting to any of that
evidence, including the nature of the objection and the ruling thereon by the trial court.
The closest appellate counsel for defendant comes is his assertion, without any citation
whatsoever to the record, that “the [prosecution’s] request for admission [of the gang
evidence] should have been more carefully scrutinized.”28 However, counsel does not
even go on to assert that any of the evidence he now contests was part of the
prosecution’s request for admission of evidence or that the trial court had an opportunity
to determine whether any of that evidence that is now contested should have been
27 This constitutes the bulk of the substantive portion of defendant’s opening brief.
28As part of our review, we read the Points and Authorities in Support of [the] Motion to Prohibit Opinion Testimony of Gang Expert[s] authored by Deputy Public Defender Judith Gweon, which reads like it was either authored by someone who is not in full command of the English language, or dictated, then typed up by someone who is not in full command of the English language, and not proof-read by someone who is. Trial courts are busy enough without having to weigh through marginally readable motions. Although to a much lesser degree, Deputy District Attorney Daima Calhoun’s Trial Brief could have profited from a good proof-reading.
15 admitted. Appellate counsel for defendant attempts to invoke “bedrock principles” in his
opening brief, but the above-cited provisions are just that.
We, therefore, begin with a summary of what evidence was actually contested
below, in what way and how the trial court ruled on it.
In his motion below to exclude the testimony of the prosecution’s gang expert,29
defendant asserted that the former should not be allowed to testify absent evidence
independent of his testimony to establish that the attempted murder was gang related.30
The trial court rejected this, finding that the prosecution’s gang expert could establish the
foundation that it was gang related and the magistrate, at the conclusion of the
preliminary hearing, bound defendant over on the gang enhancement allegation and the
substantive gang offense, thereby finding that a preliminary showing had been made that
the attempted murder was gang-related. During the discussion of the admissibility of the
expert’s testimony,31 the trial court cited a case holding that a gang expert may rely and
testify to that reliance on “reports written where the defendant was a suspect; times the
[expert] contacted the defendant [while he was] in the presence of other gang
members; . . . when he [was] caught with a codefendant; . . . being caught [the day a prior
29 This was designated in the People’s moving papers as Detective Levesque and no one else although other witnesses at trial offered expert evidence about gangs. In its ruling, the trial court referred to Detective Levesque.
30At this point, the parties were focusing on the attempted murder (and, as a consequence, the active gang participation charge) and not the possession charges.
31The trial court went into the basis for the prosecution’s expert’s opinion, not because defendant raised it, but because the prosecutor raised it in her trial brief.
16 offense had been committed by other gang members] with another gang member[;] . . .
[¶] . . . when searching a house for a [fellow] gang member . . . who was an attempt[ed]
murder suspect, the [expert] found the defendant hiding[;] . . . the [expert seeing] an
incident report that indicated that defendant had been present, had a knife [fight] or
stabbing . . . involving another . . . member of that gang, although, the defendant had not
been charged with any crime in connection with that incident [a]nd . . . [that] the
defendant had a number of gang-related tattoos.” The trial court cited a California
Supreme Court holding that “prior conduct or acts committed at the time of the charged
offenses can be used to establish primary activity . . . of [a] gang.” The court cited
another opinion holding that the expert may “base . . . his opinion . . . on conversations
with the defendant and with other Family Crip members, his personal investigations in
hundreds of crimes committed by gang members, as well as information from his
colleagues in various law enforcement agencies. [¶] . . . [¶] . . . ‘Expert testimony may
also be premised on material of a type that is not admitted in evidence, so long as it is
material of a type that is reasonably relied upon by experts in a particular field forming
their opinions. If the threshold question of reliability is satisfied, even a matter that is
ordinarily inadmissible can be a proper basis for an expert opinion.’” The trial court
concluded that the items of evidence the prosecutor proposed to introduce in this case
were the “type that may reasonably be relied upon by experts” and this included offenses
committed by defendant and other 2800 members, the effect those crimes had on
enhancing the reputation of the gang, defendant’s contacts with law enforcement between
1994 and 2010 to prove that he was an active member of the gang, his tattoos, the gang
17 graffiti found in his jail cell and a phone conversation he had with a fellow gang member
while the latter was in jail. Defense counsel conceded that the prosecutor could
introduce evidence of “the prior contact and the hearsay statements and personal
investigation and all the items that the Court just indicated to form an opinion . . . .”
Defendant moved in a separate motion to exclude his booking statements
admitting that he was a member of 2800 on the basis that his statements were in violation
of Miranda.32 The trial court concluded, under People v. Gomez (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th
609 [Fourth Dist, Div. Two], that unless there was evidence that the admission of gang
membership had not been sought as part of the ordinary booking process, for which there
are legitimate reasons related to inmate and jailer safety, but for purposes of
incrimination, it was admissible. Defense counsel then argued that admission of these
statements was fundamentally unfair to defendant, which appeared, due to its context, to
be more of an assertion that it is not fair to use a defendant’s statements during booking
against him later in another trial, rather than an argument under Evidence Code section
352. The trial court ruled the statements were admissible.
Defendant also moved separately to exclude evidence of his 2006 prior conviction
of assault with a firearm as a predicate offense. The trial court granted this motion,
finding that there were plenty of other predicate offenses committed by other 2800
members, therefore, the probative value of the evidence was outweighed by its prejudicial
impact. However, the prosecutor then sought admission of the evidence on the basis that
32 Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436.
18 during the 2006 crime, defendant invoked 2800, and since the prosecutor had to prove
that at the time of the charged offenses, defendant was an active member of 2800, and
defendant had gone to prison for this conviction and the charged crimes occurred less
than a year after he was released, the evidence was probative. The trial court agreed and
ruled that the evidence was more probative than prejudicial.33
Defendant then moved orally to exclude evidence that 2800 graffiti had been
found in the jail cell he had occupied while awaiting trial in this case on the basis that
because there was another occupant of the cell, the foundation for admission of the
evidence could not be laid.34 The trial court ruled that while defendant could argue that
he didn’t put the graffiti there (that his cellmate did), the evidence was admissible.
Finally, defendant moved to exclude a recording of a March 23, 2010 jail phone
call made by another 2800 member to defendant on the basis that is difficult to tell who is
saying what during the conversation. The People represented that the two discussed the
death of their fellow gang member (Howard), whom they believed had been killed by a
particular member of the victim’s gang, and who they were looking for to avenge the
death. The People also represented that a deputy who had spoken to defendant at length
33 Contrary to the People’s assertion, defendant did not object to this evidence for this purpose on the basis of the remoteness of the acts. That argument pertained only to their assertion that the conviction should not be used to impeach defendant should he choose to testify.
34 Defense counsel stated, “Since there were two people in the cell and . . . gang- related graffiti [was] found, I just don’t believe a foundation is met that those graffiti belonged to [defendant].” Therefore, we disagree with the People’s characterization of defendant’s objection below as one of relevance.
19 and listened to hours of his jail phone conversations, could identify the latter’s voice on
the recording and the call began with the jailed 2800 member asking for defendant by his
first name and his moniker. The trial court concluded that the evidence was relevant
because it tended to show motive and that defendant was an active member of the gang
and sufficient foundation had been established.
It is against this background that the first prosecution witness, the victim, began
the People’s case-in-chief, testifying, without objection by the defense, inter alia, as an
expert about his gang and defendant’s. For defendant to assert that no evidence other
than defendant’s admission of his membership in 2800 on December 17, 201035 and the
fact that he had 2800 tattoos was necessary36 to prove his membership is disingenuous.
35 Defendant gets it completely wrong when he asserts that defendant admitted his membership to the Riverside police officer heretofore mentioned. The officer never so testified, which is probably why defendant’s assertion is not accompanied by a citation to the record. 36 Although defendant complains about this officer testifying that defendant was a leader and shot caller in 2800, we note with interest that it was defense counsel who, on cross-examination of the officer, asked him the leading questions whether defendant was both (defense counsel also asked if defendant was a “big fish” in 2800), to which the officer responded in the positive. The prosecutor, during her direct examination of the officer, had not broached the subject of defendant’s membership in 2800. Defendant fails to mention this in his opening brief. When the prosecution’s gang expert testified that defendant admitted during a December 17, 2008 interrogation that the latter was a member of 2800, the trial court instructed the jury to not consider this evidence for the truth of the matter asserted therein, but only as the basis for the prosecution expert’s opinion that defendant was a member of 2800. Finally, as we often see in gang cases, tattoos are not always indicative of continuing membership in a gang because they are permanent, unless removed via painful and expensive laser treatments, which most former gang members cannot afford. Because the prosecutor had to prove that during the June 2010 attempted murder and [footnote continued on next page]
20 As the prosecutor pointed out during the pretrial discussions, summarized above,
defendant’s membership in 2800 or, as applies to this particular case, his membership on
June 25, 2010 and December 17, 2010,37 was not all she had the burden to prove.
Defendant’s argument also ignores what actually happened at this trial. After defendant
conceded that the items he now claims should not have been admitted were admissible,
objected only to the admission of his booking statements concerning his membership on
the basis that it was fundamentally unfair to him, and to the admission of evidence about
the jail cell graffiti and the jail phone conversation on the basis of foundation, the victim
gave his testimony about the conflict between 2800, of which defendant was associated,
and Evans Street, opining, in the process, that it was the reason defendant shot him, all
without objection by the defense. The next witness of substance was the Riverside police
officer, heretofore mentioned, who said nothing about defendant or 2800 during his direct
examination by the prosecutor. However, during cross-examination by defense counsel,
in answer to leading questions by defense counsel, he testified that he considered
defendant one of the leaders, “shot callers” and “big fishes” of 2800. Additionally,
defense counsel solicited from the officer more information about the murder of Howard.
This, in turn, opened the flood gates for the prosecutor to ask the officer on redirect more
about the murder, which lead to the first mention at this trial of the Mexican Mafia,
[footnote continued from previous page] active participation in a gang and during the December 2010 gun possessions, defendant continued to be a member of 2800, the tattoos would not have sufficed.
37 See the last paragraph of footnote 30, ante, page 17.
21 unobjected to below by the defense, which defendant now cites as a further example of
the prejudice to which he was exposed at trial. Under the circumstances, for defendant to
appear outraged that evidence of his gang membership apart from his December 17, 2010
admission and the tattoos on his body was admitted is preposterous.
Under the guise of reiterating the foundational objection he made below to the
evidence that there was 2800 graffiti in the jail cell he occupied pending this trial,
defendant’s sole assertion is that, “[t]he only probative value of the graffiti evidence was
to inform the jury that [defendant] was considered dangerous enough to be taken off the
street and kept in a nasty jail cell for over one and one-half [years] between his arrest and
trial, with either no bail or too high a bail to post to obtain his release.” On direct
examination, the prosecution gang expert was asked what information he had that
defendant was a 2800. He responded, inter alia, that 2800 graffiti had been chipped into
the paint in defendant’s cell and on a desk inside it, and photos of this were shown to the
jury. The prosecutor never solicited (nor did defense counsel) from the witness how long
defendant occupied that cell, so defendant’s current objection that defendant was in the
cell from arrest to trial is based on pure speculation. We have already addressed
defendant’s argument that there was no need for the prosecutor to solicit further evidence
that defendant was a 2800 member because defendant admitted it on December 17, 2010
and had 2800 tattoos. During cross-examination by defense counsel, it was brought out
that the witness did not know how long the graffiti had been there, that defendant had
cellmates and it was not known how many he had, that the jail tended to house together
inmates of the same gang, and the witness did not know for certain who created the
22 graffiti. Thus, the foundational issue defendant asserted below was brought to the jury’s
attention. Despite this, defense counsel conceded during argument to the jury that
defendant was a 2800 member and argued that because the victim had told the case agent
that Howard’s killer was a member of Fern Street, and the victim was a member of Evans
Street, defendant had no motive to attempt to murder the victim, therefore, he was not
guilty of either that crime or the substantive gang crime. As the trial court below
concluded, a foundational issue is not a legitimate reason for excluding the evidence.
Evidence Code section 403, subdivision (a) (4) provides, in pertinent part, “The
proponent of the proffered evidence has the burden of producing evidence as to the
existence of the preliminary fact, and the proffered evidence is inadmissible unless the
court finds that there is evidence sufficient to sustain a finding of the existence of the
preliminary fact, when: [¶] . . . [¶] (4) The proffered evidence is of a statement or other
conduct of a particular person and the preliminary fact is whether that person . . . so
conducted himself.” “‘The [trial] court should exclude the proffered evidence only if the
‘showing of preliminary facts is too weak to support a favorable determination by the
jury. . . . The decision whether the foundational evidence is sufficiently substantial is a
matter within the [trial] court’s discretion.’” (People v. Rundle (2008) 43 Cal.4th 76,
129, disapproved on other grounds in People v. Doolin (2009) 45 Cal.4th 390, 421, fn.
22.) Defendant does not even here assert that the trial court abused its discretion in
finding that there was sufficient foundation that defendant was the person responsible for
the graffiti in his cell in order to admit the evidence. Moreover, the jury was instructed as
follows, “You may consider evidence of gang activity only for the limited purpose of
23 deciding whether: [¶] The defendant acted with the intent, purpose and knowledge that
are required to prove the gang-related crimes and enhancements; [¶] The defendant had
a motive to commit the crimes charged; [¶] You may also consider this evidence when
you evaluate the credibility or believability of a witness and when you consider the facts
and information to rely on by an expert witness in reaching his or her opinion. [¶] You
may not consider this evidence for any other purpose. You may not conclude from this
evidence that the defendant is a person of bad character or that he has a disposition to
commit crime.”
As already stated, defendant’s sole objection at trial to the admission of the
recorded jail conversation between him and another 2800 member was foundational.
Here, defendant, by misinterpreting evidence, asserts that admission of the recording was
outrageously prejudicial to him, a matter he waived below by failing to object on this
basis. However, because the argument in defendant’s opening brief is so inflammatory in
nature, we will examine the conversation and the expert testimony concerning it.
The substance of the conversation is very difficult to discern and requires, at
times, heavy dependence on the prosecution’s gang expert’s interpretation of it. In it, a
jail inmate, who previously during trial had been identified as someone defendant had
told police on December 17, 2010 was running 2800 with him, called defendant, who
previously during trial, thanks to defense counsel, had been identified as a leader, shot
caller and big fish of 2800. Defendant told his fellow leader that a member of Evans
Street had told him that that member, or some third person, and the man suspected of
killing Howard had been taxing Howard when things went badly and Howard was killed.
24 Defendant’s fellow leader told defendant that he did not trust this Evans Street member
and he had told defendant that while in prison. They discussed this person being on the
outs with members of his own gang, the activities of the law enforcement gang task force
in the neighborhood and they traded information about the activities of a Moreno Valley
gang and an assault near Riverside Community College on two Hispanics. Defendant
complained that he had only one person who could be relied upon to put in work,
meaning to commit crimes for the gang. Defendant’s fellow leader told defendant that
the latter needed to get the younger members of 2800 who weren’t doing what they were
supposed to be doing to be more productive.38 Defendant told his fellow leader about an
incident involving two 2800 members about which the Riverside police officer had
already testified. They discussed how one of these two members was messing up.
According to the prosecution gang expert, they also discussed throwing this member out.
When defendant complained about “a bunch of little shit going on”[,] the fellow leader
told defendant, “[Y]ou need to get all that shit out of the way” and defendant agreed.
According to the prosecution’s gang expert, they were trying to get their house in order in
light of the impending battle with people that used to be part of a truce with them.
According to that expert, they also discussed finding the suspected killer of Howard.
They then discussed a member of Fern Street who had been convicted of numerous
38 The prosecution’s gang expert added context to this part of the conversation by saying that defendant and his fellow 2800 member indicated that they knew that a battle was heating up between 2800 members and those with whom they formerly had had a truce, that the younger members of 2800 had never had to deal with this before and that it was time to clean house.
25 crimes and sent to prison for many years after giving the fellow gang leader information
about the suspected killer of Howard while both had been in the jail. The fellow leader
told defendant something about a gang shot caller inside the jail who had put a green light
on him, meaning that the fellow leader would be killed.
The prosecution’s gang expert went on to testify that the reason the member of
Evans Street who talked to defendant about Howard’s murder had a relationship with the
defendant involved “some mid to high level politics of gang culture.” He opined that this
Evans Street member was “supposedly also a tax collector . . . [a]nd at one point possibly
an associate of the Mexican Mafia.” He went on to explain that the Mexican Mafia
control all the street gangs and sales of drugs, and “when you get to a certain level, the
[Mexican Mafia are] no longer are concerned with what [clique] you’re from. They don’t
care if you’re from Evans Street or Fern. The Mexican Mafia wants their money.” He
said that the Evans Street member collected taxes for the Mexican Mafia with someone
who might be from a rival gang, and if they did not, they would be killed. He added that
there had been a rumor that the Evans Street member had been targeted for death by the
Mexican Mafia for a long time because he was collecting taxes on his own, without the
Mexican Mafia’s authorization, and that was why he was eventually killed. All the
evidence came in without objection by the defense.
Defendant here asserts that the conversation included statements to the effect that
before the Evans Street member died, defendant was also trying to find him, and “that
[defendant] was waiting to receive some ‘paperwork’ from the Mexican Mafia.”
Defendant completely misinterprets that portion of the conversation to which he refers
26 and the prosecution gang expert’s explanation of it. The expert testified that at the
beginning of their conversation, the fellow leader seemed to be trying to figure out where
the Evans Street member was, so the latter could be questioned about Howard’s murder,
but defendant interrupted him and told him that he has already spoken to the Evans Street
member, who told him about the murder, as reported above. After defendant explained to
the fellow leader why Howard had died, he added, “Yeah, I’m still waiting on
the . . . paperwork” which the gang expert testified meant court documents and police
reports that gang members check to see who is talking about the crimes or who the
witnesses are and what happened.39 There was no reference whatsoever during this part
of the conversation to the Mexican Mafia. For defendant to assert that during this
passage (or any other, for that matter), there was an implication that he was “acting, or at
least prepared to act, as a contract killer for the Mexican Mafia, for the specific purpose
of murdering [Howard’s killer] and [the Evans Street member]” is patently absurd.
Defendant next asserts that the prosecution gang expert’s testimony that on six
different occasions between February 19, 1994 and December 17, 2010, defendant
admitted being a 2800 member while being booked into jail, and that his fellow leader
had been convicted of discharging a firearm and other crimes, “including a gang
allegation” based on acts occurring on a particular day “demonstrate[d] to the jury that
39Defendant misreads the record when he asserts that it also refers to money. The expert testified that a later reference in the conversation to “paper” (not “paperwork”) was to money, and it involved the fellow leader telling defendant to get gang members to get some money so it could be put on the books at jail for his use in the commissary.
27 not only had [defendant] personally and consistently broken the law and committed
numerous crimes for which he had been arrested and jailed over a period of more than 13
years, but that he was also the co-leader with [someone], who also had an impulsive and
violent character.” However, the jury had been instructed by the trial court to use
defendant’s booking admission only as the basis for the expert’s opinion that defendant
was a 2800 member, therefore, the jury could not possibly have used them to conclude
that defendant had committed numerous crimes for which he had been arrested and jailed.
As to the fellow leader’s convictions, the People were obliged to prove that 2800
members “have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity” in order for the jury to
make true findings as to the charged gang allegations and active gang participation
offense and the expert limited his testimony in that regard to this subject. Additionally,
defendant made no objection below to this latter evidence, therefore, he waived the
matter.
Defendant also now makes the same complaint about evidence of his “in field”
admissions of membership in 2800, however, he not only conceded below that this was
admissible, as already stated, but the trial court instructed the jury that it could use this
evidence only as the basis for the expert’s opinion that defendant was a 2800 member.
Finally, defendant complains that evidence that in 2006, he confronted someone
over a sign of disrespect, during which he pointed a handgun at the person and made a
reference to 2800, for which he was arrested, should not have been admitted. The trial
court concluded that this evidence was more probative than prejudicial to show that
defendant was an active member of 2800, despite his age, which would in the gang
28 culture be considered to be advanced for a gang member. Defendant did not actually
object to the admission of this evidence for this purpose, therefore, his current claim that
admission of this evidence violated Evidence Code sections 1101 and 352 was waived.
(People v. Bryant, Smith and Wheeler (2014) 60 Cal.4th 335, 408.) To the extent one
wishes to impute an Evidence Code section 352 objection to the defense, due to the trial
court’s agreement with the prosecutor’s argument that the evidence was more probative
than prejudicial to prove defendant’s continuing participation in 2800, we are not
persuaded that the trial court abused its discretion in this regard. The prosecutor
represented below, without contradiction by the defense, that defendant went to prison for
the 2006 crimes, and was out less than a year when he committed the instant crimes.
Given defendant’s advanced age, in terms of gang culture, we cannot conclude that
admission of this evidence for the purpose of proving defendant’s continuing
participation in 2800 exceeded the bounds of reason.
As we have already stated, defendant, during argument to the jury, conceded that
he was a 2800 member and it was defense counsel, himself, who initially solicited
testimony that defendant was a leader, shot caller and big fish in the organization. The
real issue in this case, as to the charged attempted murder and active gang participation
and, as a foundational matter, the gang enhancement allegations, was the identity of the
victim’s shooter, which, essentially boiled down to the credibility of the victim and that
of defendant’s friend, who claimed that his truck was inoperable during 2010. In fact,
defense counsel used the fact that defendant was a shot caller in 2800 to imply that the
29 police unfairly targeted defendant as the victim’s shooter, as evidenced in the March 23,
2010 jail call.
Defendant asserts that even if admission of this evidence did not violate state law,
he is entitled to relief if it is so prejudicial that it renders the trial fundamentally unfair.
We disagree with defendant that admission of this evidence rendered his trial
fundamentally unfair. Defendant cites no authority holding otherwise. In fact, it was
typical of evidence admitted in gang cases. “[W]hen no specific federal constitutional
challenge to the evidence was raised below, . . . appellate claims” “that the trial court’s
asserted evidentiary errors deprived them of due process under the federal
Constitution . . . are preserved only to the extent that the federal aspect is a gloss on the
claim of error actually raised. [Citation.] . . . [E]very state law error does not
automatically result in a violation of the federal Constitution . . . (People v. Cudjo (1993)
6 Cal.4th 585, 611 . . . [‘for the most part . . . the mere erroneous exercise of discretion
under such “normal” rules [of evidence] does not implicate the federal Constitution’];
Engle v. Issac (1982) 456 U.S. 107, 121, fn. 21 . . . [‘We have long recognized that a
“mere error of state law” is not a denial of due process. [Citation.] If the contrary were
true, then “every erroneous decision by a state court on state law would come [to this
Court] as a federal constitutional question.”’].)” (People v. Bryant, Smith and Wheeler,
supra, 60 Cal.4th 335, 413, fn. 34.) Moreover, defendant waived the matter by failing to
assert it below, except as to the booking statements.
Defendant also contends that admission of the foregoing evidence as the basis for
the prosecution gang expert’s opinion violated his right to confrontation. At the same
30 time, he concedes that we are bound by California Supreme Court precedent holding
otherwise (People v. Bryant, Smith and Wheeler, supra, 60 Cal.4th 335, 413; Auto Equity
Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 450, 455) and he asserts that he raises the
issue only to preserve his right to relitigate it later in federal court. We also note that
defendant waived his complaint by failing to object to this evidence below on the basis of
confrontation. (Ibid.)40
2. Sufficiency of the Evidence
a. Active Participation in a Criminal Street Gang
The jury was instructed that in order to convict defendant of this charged offense,
the People must prove that: “the defendant actively participated in a criminal street gang[,
[¶] . . . [w]hen the defendant participated in the gang, he knew that members of the gang
engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity . . . and [¶] . . . the
defendant willfully assisted, furthered, or promoted felonious criminal conduct by
members of the gang either by . . . [¶] [d]irectly and actively committing a felony
offense . . . or [¶] [a]iding and abetting a felony offense. [¶] . . . [¶] Felonious criminal
conduct means committing or attempting to commit any of the following crimes: [¶]
[a]ttempted murder as charged in Count 1.” The parties argued to the jury that the
felonious criminal conduct was the attempted murder.
A few months after this trial took place, the California Supreme Court, in People
v. Rodriguez (2012) 55 Cal.4th 1125, 1132, 1134, held that in order to convict a
40 During the latter part of his argument, defendant incorrectly refers to Howard as Thomas.
31 defendant of actively participating in a criminal street gang, the People must also prove
that the “felonious criminal conduct be committed by at least two gang members, one of
whom can include the defendant if he is a gang member . . . [¶] . . . [¶]
186.122(a) . . . require[es] that a person commit an underlying felony with at least one
other gang member.” In Rodriguez, the evidence indisputably established that the
defendant acted alone. (Id. at pp. 1128, 1131.) Defendant contends that there was
insufficient evidence that the passenger in the truck was a member of 2800 or any gang.
We disagree.
There was evidence from which a reasonable juror could have concluded that the
passenger in the truck with defendant on the night of June 25, 2010 was a fellow 2800
member. Specifically, there was more than sufficient evidence that the motive for the
attempted murder was retaliation for the killing of Howard. The victim testified that
when the occupants of the truck passed him the first time, they looked at him crazy or had
a mad look on their faces. Although he testified at trial that the passenger was a person
he did not know, he told the police that the passenger was a 2800 member, whom he had
seen before. The victim testified that the truck drove past him not at a fast pace, went
beyond him, then sped up to make a u-turn and return to a position 8-10 feet in front of
him, where it either slowed down or stopped and he was shot. He told the police that
before defendant fired, the victim thought that the passenger was going to shoot the latter,
but defendant told the passenger, “Hand me that shit, hand me that shit” then defendant
shot the victim. The prosecution’s gang expert testified that the vast majority of gang
members will not allow someone else to commit crimes with them unless they are also
32 members of that gang. The foregoing constitutes substantial evidence supporting an
implied finding by the jury that the passenger in the truck was a fellow 2800 member.
b. Active Participation in a Criminal Street Gang and Gang Enhancements
As to the enhancements attached to the attempted murder and the firearms
possession, the jury was instructed,
“To prove this allegation, the People must prove that: [¶] . . . the defendant
committed the crime for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a
criminal street gang; and [¶] . . . the defendant intended to assist, further, or promote
criminal conduct by gang members.”
To summarize the testimony already described about the conflict between 2800
and Evans Street or Fern Street preceding the shooting of the victim, the Riverside Police
officer testified that after the murder of Howard on Evans Street turf, 2800 members were
seen for the first time in places he had never before seen them, i.e., enemy territory,
including Evans Street turf, suggesting that they were searching for someone and there
was going to be retaliation. Evans Street members were much more visible in Casa
Blanca—Fern Street members were not, Howard’s killer had disappeared after the killing
and it was his opinion that if Howard’s killer could not be located, retaliation would be
directed at another member of either Evans Street or Fern Street. The victim told police
that 2800 members would have a hard time finding a member of Fern Street against
whom they could retaliate and they would turn their retaliation into a “race thing” and go
after members of Evans Street, who were more visible than members of Fern Street. The
victim reported being “mad dogged” by defendant and his passenger just before the
33 shooting. During defendant’s phone conversation with his fellow gang leader, a month
after Howard’s killing, they discussed the reason for the killing, who was suspected of
doing it, how this person could be found and that a member of Fern Street had given the
fellow leader information about the suspect. The reason defendant offered his fellow
leader for the murder of Howard was the same reason about which the Riverside Police
Officer testified. It is also clear from the conversation that the two, together, were
deciding how 2800 should be administered.
The prosecution’s gang expert testified that the murder of Howard heralded a sea-
change in the relationship between 2800 and the Hispanic gangs in Casa Blanca and was
a slap in the face to 2800. Thereafter, efforts were made by 2800 to find Howard’s killer,
as evidenced by the phone call between defendant and his fellow leader, but no one,
including 2800 and the police, could find him. The police began to notice 2800 members
in Evans Street turf, as evidenced by the fact that the Riverside Police Officer saw 2800
members there and caught two of them there, one of whom had a bullet in his pocket.
Even though the police were not positive whether Howard’s killer was Fern Street or
Evans Street, he regularly went into Evans Street turf, where he was eventually arrested.
There was no point to 2800 looking to retaliate in Fern Street turf as Fern Street members
were not very visible there and few lived there. However, it was easy to find Evans
Street members, especially at the park, near where the victim had been shot. The victim’s
shooting was in retaliation for Howard’s murder and not because there was any personal
animosity between the victim and defendant. As the people correctly note, no one gave
an opinion that the firearms possessions were gang-related.
34 Defendant claims the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict that he was
an active participant in a criminal street gang and the gang enhancement connected to the
attempted murder41 because “there was no non-opinion evidence that the shooting of [the
victim] had any connection with any gang activity.” In support, he cites People v. Ramon
(2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 843 (Ramon) and In re Frank S. (2006) 141 Cal.App.4th 1192
(In re Frank S.), but they are distinguishable. He also cites People v. Ferraez (2003) 112
Cal.App.4th 925 (Ferraez), which does not support his position.
In Ramon, the defendant and a fellow gang member were caught by the police in
the heart of their gang’s turf driving a stolen truck, which contained an unregistered hand
gun that did not belong to the truck’s owner. (Ramon, supra, 175 Cal.App.4th at pp. 846-
847.) The prosecution’s gang expert testified that the crimes of receiving a stolen vehicle
and possessing the gun were related to what he said were the primary activities of the
gang because having both would enable gang members to commit those crimes and then
get rid of the vehicle and the gun. (Id. at pp. 847-848.) He also said that both items
could be used to spread fear and intimidation. (Id. at p. 848.) The appellate court
observed, “[The prosecution’s gang expert’s] opinion was based on his belief that
because the gun and the stolen vehicle could be used to facilitate the commission of a
crime, and the [gang] commits crime[s], the two must have been acting on behalf of the
[gang]. [¶] . . . [¶] . . . There were no facts from which the expert could discern whether
41 As the People correctly point out, because none of defendant’s arguments refer to the gang enhancements connected to the firearms possessions, he has waived his argument that the evidence supporting them is insufficient.
35 [defendant and his fellow gang member] were acting on their own behalf . . . or were
acting on behalf of the [gang]. While it is possible the two were acting for the benefit of
the gang, a mere possibility is nothing more than speculation. Speculation is not
substantial evidence. . . . [¶] The . . . [facts that defendant] was with another gang
member, and . . . was in gang territory . . . standing alone, are not adequate to establish
that [defendant] committed the crime with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist
criminal conduct by gang members. . . . [T]here is nothing in the record that would
permit the People’s expert to reach th[e] conclusion . . . [that defendant was acting with
this specific intent.] [¶] . . . The facts on which [the prosecution’s gang expert] based his
testimony were insufficient to permit him to construct an opinion about [the defendant’s]
specific intent in this case. His opinion, therefore, cannot constitute substantial evidence
to support the jury’s finding on the gang enhancement. [¶] . . . [¶] The analysis might
be different if the expert’s opinion had included ‘possessing stolen vehicles’ as one of the
activities of the gang. . . . [¶] . . . [¶] The . . . cases we have reviewed . . . have not
revealed any situation where expert testimony about a possible reason for committing a
crime was sufficient, by itself, to establish the crime was committed with the specific
intent to promote, further, or assist in criminal conduct by gang members.” (Id. at pp.
849, 851-853, italics added.) Contrary to defendant’s assertion, Ramon does not stand for
the proposition that more than expert opinion testimony must support a substantive gang
conviction and gang enhancements. Ramon clearly questioned the substantiality of the
expert opinion offered there on the basis that it was not supported by the evidence
presented. Moreover, there was more than just the opinion of the prosecution’s gang
36 expert in this case to establish the requisites for the substantive gang offense and the
enhancement. Finally, the factual differences between Ramon and this case are obvious.
In In re Frank S., the juvenile was caught in possession of a dirk or dagger, which
he said was for self-protection. (In re Frank S., supra, 141 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1194-
1195.) The prosecution’s gang expert opined that a gang member would use the knife for
protection from rival gang members and to assault the same. (Id. at p. 1195.) The
appellate court that decided Ramon held, “[H]ere nothing besides weak inferences and
hypotheticals show the minor had a gang-related purpose for the knife. [¶] [T]he expert
simply informed the judge of her belief of the minor’s intent with possession of the knife,
an issue reserved to the trier of fact. . . . [T]he prosecution presented no evidence other
than the expert’s opinion regarding gangs in general and the expert’s improper opinion on
the ultimate issue to establish that possession of the weapon was ‘committed for the
benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang . . . .’
[Citation.] The prosecution did not present any evidence that the minor was in gang
territory, had gang members with him, or had any reason to expect to use the knife in a
gang-related offense. (Id. at p. 1199, italics added.) For the same reasons Ramon does
not apply here, neither does In re Frank S.
Finally, in Ferraez, the defendant, a self-admitted gang member, was caught with
rock cocaine. (Ferraez, supra, 112 Cal.App.4th at pp. 925, 928.) He denied selling it for
the gang in whose territory he was, but he said he had this gang’s permission to sell it
there. (Ibid.) The prosecution’s gang expert testified that gang members sell drugs
because it involves less risk than other crimes and the profits can be used to buy guns or
37 more drugs to increase the volume of their business and a member possessing a drug for
sale enhances a gang’s reputation. (Ibid.) Given a hypothetical that incorporated the
facts of this case, the expert opined that the drugs were intended to be sold to benefit or in
association with a gang, the proceeds could be used to benefit the gang in purchasing
guns or more drugs or bailing a member out of jail and the sale of drugs promotes
criminal conduct by the gang. (Ibid.) The Ferraez court observed, “[T]he expert’s
testimony alone would not have been sufficient to find the drug offense was gang related.
But here it was coupled with other evidence from which a jury could reasonably infer the
crime was gang related. Defendant planned to sell the drugs in [the] . . . territory [of
another gang]. His statements . . . that he received permission from that gang to sell the
drugs . . . and his . . . admissions . . . that he was a member of . . . a gang [that was] on
friendly terms with [the former gang], also constitute circumstantial evidence of his
intent.” (Id. at p. 931.) In this case, like in Ferraez, there was evidence aside from the
prosecution’s gang expert’s opinion, as stated above, from which the jury could
reasonably infer that the attempted murder was gang related, therefore, the gang
allegation attached to the actual murder was true and he was guilty of the substantive
gang charge.
Defendant suggests that there is insufficient evidence because he did not invoke
his gang’s name during the attempted murder. However, the prosecution’s gang expert
testified that it was not common for gang members to call out the name of their gang
during crimes due to the penalties that are imposed for gang enhancements. The jury was
free to credit this testimony. Defendant asserts that the absence of an announcement by
38 defendant suggests that the shooting was done for personal reasons. However, as already
stated, the victim testified that he had no personal beef with defendant and there was no
evidence to the contrary.
Defendant also asserts that the prosecution’s expert’s opinion was “based on
‘incompetent hearsay under the guise of stating reasons for an opinion’ and therefore
[was] entitled to no evidentiary weight at all.” Defendant, however, is not specific about
which parts of the expert’s testimony was based on what he deems incompetent hearsay.
Moreover, our summary of the evidence supporting the substantive offense and the
enhancement on the attempted murder belies this.
c. Possession of Firearms/Ammunition/Destructive Device
Defendant contends that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions
for the possession offenses because there was no evidence he had access to the Hill Street
residence or those items. We disagree. Defendant certainly had access to the residence
on December 17, 2010, and thus, to the items in it. According to a neighbor and even his
own girlfriend’s testimony, he had access to it on other days as well. Despite his later
back peddling, his friend admitted to police and testified at trial that defendant lived there
and the friend’s back peddling was undermined by the latter’s testimony that defendant
was never at his parents’ house, where his friend claimed he was living, when the police
frequently looked for him there. Defendant’s girlfriend and the neighbor likewise told
the police that defendant lived there. The presence in the home of photographs, Steelers
merchandise (which defendant’s girlfriend told the police was defendant’s) and
Christmas gifts bearing defendant’s name and the fact that defendant could not be
39 eliminated as a contributor of the DNA found on the firearms provided further
circumstantial evidence of defendant’s access to the home and those items, which was
neither speculative nor conjectural, as defendant asserts. The girlfriend’s denials to the
police of any knowledge of the contraband items conflicted with her trial testimony,
which was further undermined by her professed ignorance of firearms and how they are
used. Unlike defendant, there was no evidence that defendant’s girlfriend’s son (age
unknown), defendant’s friend and the friend’s brother and his girlfriend, both truck
drivers, who frequented the residence, were gang members who would find firearms,
ammunition and an incendiary device useful.
DISPOSITION
The trial court is directed to amend the minutes of September 28, 2012 to strike
the reference to defendant committing a third strike. On defendant’s indeterminate
abstract of judgment, number 6c should be changed to “45 years to life on Count 1” and
the first box on number 8 should be checked. On defendant’s determinate abstract of
judgment, the first and second boxes on number 4 should be checked. In all other
respects the judgment is affirmed.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
RAMIREZ P. J.
We concur:
HOLLENHORST J. KING J.
Related
Cite This Page — Counsel Stack
People v. Harper CA4/2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-harper-ca42-calctapp-2015.