People v. Nolazco-Loza CA2/3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 5, 2025
DocketB336405
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Nolazco-Loza CA2/3 (People v. Nolazco-Loza CA2/3) 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. Nolazco-Loza CA2/3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Filed 9/5/25 P. v. Nolazco-Loza CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, B336405

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. v. XEAKA112745-01

ANTHONY NOLAZCO-LOZA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Victor D. Martinez, Judge. Affirmed.

Robert E. Boyce, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, David E. Madeo and Michael C. Keller, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________ Anthony Nolazco-Loza pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder and admitted a gang enhancement allegation. The court sentenced him to a term of 15 years to life. Several years later, Nolazco-Loza filed a petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6.1 At an evidentiary hearing, the People presented evidence showing Nolazco-Loza drove a truck while his passenger Vicente Palomares fired a high-powered rifle at a car full of people. Nolazco-Loza and Palomares fled the scene and led the police on a high-speed chase covering more than 14 miles. The court denied Nolazco-Loza’s petition, finding beyond a reasonable doubt he committed attempted murder as a direct aider and abettor. On appeal, Nolazco-Loza challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the court’s order. He contends there is not substantial evidence that he knew of and shared the shooter’s intent to kill. We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 1. The charges and plea In November 2016, the People charged Nolazco-Loza with four counts of attempted murder (§§ 187, 664), driving recklessly while fleeing a police officer (Veh. Code, § 2800.2), and shooting at an occupied motor vehicle (§ 246). The People alleged various gang and firearm enhancements.

1 Statutory references are to the Penal Code. Nolazco-Loza filed the petition under former section 1170.95. Effective June 30, 2022, the Legislature renumbered former section 1170.95 to section 1172.6 with no change in text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) (People v. Strong (2022) 13 Cal.5th 698, 708, fn. 2 (Strong).) For the sake of simplicity, we refer only to section 1172.6.

2 A year later—in November 2017—Nolazco-Loza pleaded no contest to a single count of attempted murder. He admitted the gang enhancement allegation and that the crime was committed willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation. The court accepted the plea, dismissed the remaining counts, and sentenced Nolazco-Loza to a term of 15 years to life. 2. The resentencing petitions In January 2022, Nolazco-Loza filed a petition for resentencing under section 1172.6. The People conceded Nolazco-Loza could have been convicted of attempted murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine, and therefore had made a prima facie showing. However, the People asserted they could demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt he is guilty of attempted murder as a direct aider and abettor. Palomares—who had also pleaded no contest to a single count of attempted murder—filed a petition for resentencing under section 1172.6 a year after Nolazco-Loza filed his petition. 3. The People’s evidence The court conducted a joint evidentiary hearing on Nolazco-Loza’s and Palomares’s petitions over the course of two days in November 2023 and January 2024. The People submitted 14 exhibits and called eight witnesses to testify at the hearing. The court also considered the transcript of the preliminary hearing, but clarified it would disregard hearsay testimony introduced under section 872.2

2 Some witnesses testified at both the preliminary hearing and the section 1172.6 evidentiary hearing. For the sake of simplicity, we summarize the evidence together.

3 A.M.3 testified a shooting occurred in the early morning hours of June 5, 2016, near the intersection of Ramona Boulevard and Bogart Avenue in Baldwin Park. At the time, A.M. was a passenger in a car with three men—Andrew Cordia, Robert Alfaro, and Sergio Ortiz. A vehicle pulled up next to them as they were stopped at a red light. A.M. was sure the other vehicle was a car, not a truck. A.M. said there were three or four men with shaved heads in the other car, and she described them as “kind of cholo-type guys.” Someone in the other car said something about “ ‘Baldwin Park’ ” and then asked, “ ‘where you from?’ ” A.M. heard continuous gunshots, likely more than 10. Everyone in A.M.’s car was struck by bullets, except A.M. Police officer Alexis Rodriguez testified he was driving a patrol car along Ramona Boulevard in Baldwin Park the morning of the shooting. At 1:44 a.m., he noticed a pickup truck traveling in the opposite direction at a high rate of speed. Nolazco-Loza was driving, and Palomares was in the passenger seat. Palomares had his torso and head outside the passenger-side window. He was holding a dark object that looked like a stick. Rodriguez noticed a sedan driving close to Nolazco-Loza’s truck. The sedan and truck were going the same speed in the same direction, and Rodriguez described them as traveling “in tandem.” Rodriguez made a U-turn and started following the vehicles. As he got closer, the sedan turned down another street.

3 Because A.M. was a minor when she testified, we refer to her using her initials. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.90(b).)

4 Rodriguez turned on his lights and sirens and continued following the truck. Nolazco-Loza accelerated to 80 miles per hour and ran a number of red lights and stop signs. About eight to 10 minutes into the pursuit, Nolazco-Loza turned off the truck’s front and rear lights. Rodriguez followed the truck for 14 miles—including down Merced Avenue—before police helicopters took over. Maricela Rojas testified she was standing in the front yard of her home on Merced Avenue in the early morning of June 5, 2016. Rojas heard police sirens and a helicopter. A dark pickup truck drove past her, and someone in the truck threw a long, stick-like object from it. She told police the object appeared to be a rifle. Police later found in the area a working high-powered SKS rifle. In another location along the path of the chase, officers found a high-capacity SKS rifle magazine and rifle bullets. The chase eventually ended, and the police arrested Nolazco-Loza and Palomares. Inside the truck, officers found an intact rifle bullet, a New York Yankee’s hat, and black gloves. At the intersection where the victims were shot, police found shell casings and bullet fragments fired by the SKS rifle. The rifle bullets were the same make, caliber, and material as the bullet found in Nolazco-Loza’s truck. Police also found three shell casings that had been fired by a handgun. Officers found a rifle bullet in a Domino’s Pizza parking lot about 200 yards from the intersection. They also discovered bullet holes in a car parked in the lot. Testing revealed gun powder residue (GSR) on samples taken from Palomares’s hands, the gloves found in the truck,

5 and the truck itself. Samples taken from Nolazco-Loza’s hands did not contain GSR. Detective Norman Gonzalez interrogated Nolazco-Loza after his arrest.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
People v. Fuiava
269 P.3d 568 (California Supreme Court, 2012)
People v. Williams
299 P.3d 1185 (California Supreme Court, 2013)
People v. Cooper
811 P.2d 742 (California Supreme Court, 1991)
People v. Bloom
774 P.2d 698 (California Supreme Court, 1989)
People v. Mason
802 P.2d 950 (California Supreme Court, 1991)
People v. Rogers
209 P.3d 977 (California Supreme Court, 2009)
People v. San Nicolas
101 P.3d 509 (California Supreme Court, 2004)
People v. McCoy
24 P.3d 1210 (California Supreme Court, 2001)
People v. Young
105 P.3d 487 (California Supreme Court, 2005)
People v. Lee
74 P.3d 176 (California Supreme Court, 2003)
People v. Cardenas
239 Cal. App. 4th 220 (California Court of Appeal, 2015)
People v. Lam Thanh Nguyen
354 P.3d 90 (California Supreme Court, 2015)
People v. Franklin
370 P.3d 1053 (California Supreme Court, 2016)
People v. Westerfield
433 P.3d 914 (California Supreme Court, 2019)
People v. Brady
232 Cal. Rptr. 3d 220 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2018)
Sander v. State Bar of Cal.
237 Cal. Rptr. 3d 276 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2018)
People v. Gutierrez-Salazar
251 Cal. Rptr. 3d 178 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
People v. Nolazco-Loza CA2/3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-nolazco-loza-ca23-calctapp-2025.