People v. Reyes CA2/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 5, 2021
DocketB301357
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Reyes CA2/2 (People v. Reyes CA2/2) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Reyes CA2/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 4/5/21 P. v. Reyes CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO

THE PEOPLE, B301357

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA143286) v.

JUAN CARLOS REYES,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, John J. Lonergan, Jr., Judge. Affirmed. Law Office of J. Blacknell and Kellen I. Davis for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Wyatt E. Bloomfield and Michael C. Keller, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. Defendant and appellant Juan Carlos Reyes (defendant) appeals his conviction, following a jury trial, of one count of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a))1 and two counts of attempted murder without premeditation (§§ 664, 187, subd. (a)). As to each count, the jury found defendant personally used a firearm that caused great bodily injury or death. (§ 12022.53, subds. (c)-(d).) The trial court found that defendant had two prior serious or violent felony convictions under the “Three Strikes” law (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i), 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d)), and under section 667, subdivision (a)(1) and sentenced him to prison for a term of 150 years to life, plus 36 years. We affirm the judgment. STATEMENT OF FACTS At approximately 9:00 p.m. on February 18, 2017, Ivan Merino was working at a taco truck parked at 135th Street and Alameda Avenue in the City of Compton. Merino was grilling meat on the sidewalk adjacent to the taco truck. Merino’s coworker, Ana Granados, stood next to him on the sidewalk making tortillas. A taco truck customer, Sergio Ramirez, was standing a few feet away from Merino and Granados. Merino and Granados both saw a sedan traveling southbound on Alameda Avenue stop near the taco truck then reverse. Merino saw at least two people in the sedan, one in the driver’s seat and one in the front passenger seat. Merino and Granados then heard gunshots, and they both started running toward the front of the taco truck. Granados was struck by a bullet on her left calf. Merino was struck by a bullet on his left shin and fell to the ground. While on the ground, Merino saw a

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 light-skinned person wearing a dark hoodie standing over Ramirez, who was lying on the ground. Merino saw several flashes coming from that direction. Ramirez died at the scene from seven gunshot wounds. His body lay directly in front of the taco truck’s outdoor grilling station. Eleven cartridge casings, all fired by the same weapon, were strewn throughout the street and sidewalk. Karla Landeros testified that on the evening of February 18, 2017, she was in her Toyota Camry on 131st Street with her boyfriend, “Lucky,” when she received a phone call from defendant. Landeros knew defendant by his moniker, “Scandalous.” Defendant told Landeros he needed a ride and asked her to pick him up on Alameda Avenue and 134th Street. When Landeros and Lucky drove to that location, defendant entered the back seat of the Camry and told Landeros to turn right on 134th Street. Landeros assumed that she was taking defendant on a “dope run.” Defendant was wearing a hoodie and sweat pants. As Landeros proceeded on Alameda Avenue toward 135th Street, the Camry approached a taco truck. Defendant told Landeros to “hold on,” as he was looking for someone. He directed Landeros to back up and then stop. When Landeros stopped, defendant exited the vehicle. Landeros did not see where defendant went, but she heard several gunshots before defendant returned to the car. She did not see defendant with a gun at any time. When defendant returned to the car, he told Landeros to “Go, go, go” in a loud voice. Landeros made a right turn on Oris Street at the next corner, near an alley, where defendant told her to stop. Defendant got out of the car and told Lucky to get out

3 with him. Defendant then told Landeros to park the car and that he would call her. Landeros drove a bit, parked the car, and left the keys inside. She then walked towards Stockwell Street. Defendant telephoned Landeros shortly thereafter and said he was going to pick her up. Eva Pelayo testified that defendant telephoned her on the night of February 18, 2017 and asked for a ride. Pelayo was with her friend, Mayra Ruvalcava, at the time. Ruvalcava drove her Dodge Durango, with Pelayo in the front passenger seat, to the intersection of Santa Fe and Pine Streets where they collected defendant. Defendant, known to the women as “Scandalous,” was wearing a hoodie. At defendant’s direction, Ruvalcava picked up Landeros at the intersection of Wilmington Avenue and Stockwell Street. Landeros testified that when she entered the Dodge Durango, defendant told her not to say anything, or he would kill her. Defendant then asked Landeros for her cell phone. When Landeros handed defendant her phone, defendant broke the phone with his hands and then stepped on it. Ruvalcava drove to a liquor store, a Jack in the Box, and a Shell gas station, and then dropped Landeros at Long Beach Boulevard and Tucker Street. Cell phone records and cell phone tower information for phone numbers belonging to Landeros and defendant showed that both phones were in the vicinity of the crime scene when the shooting occurred. Cell tower records showed that Landeros’s phone subsequently went to the area near Stockwell Street and Wilmington Avenue and that both Landeros’s phone and defendant’s phone were in communication with each other within 30 minutes after the crime.

4 Surveillance video obtained from a camera at a nearby liquor store showed Ramirez ordering food from the taco truck and eating it at an adjacent table. The video showed a car drive past the taco truck stop, reverse, and stop again before the shooting occurred. The video also showed a person exiting the car and shooting Ramirez. Pelayo watched the video during a May 31, 2017 interview with detectives and identified defendant as the shooter, based on the shooter’s build and clothing. At trial, however, Pelayo denied identifying defendant as the person in the video. Landeros watched the video during her testimony at trial and identified the car as her Camry and defendant as the shooter. Landeros and defendant were both arrested for the crime. At some point after her arrest, Landeros was transported in a van together with defendant. While in the van, defendant told Landeros not to worry because the police would not find her car. He inquired about Landeros’s family, asked whether they still lived in the same location, and said he would send people to “go look out.” Landeros understood defendant to be threatening her family, and she was afraid. After the jury convicted him, defendant filed a motion for a new trial, asserting ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant claimed that before the trial he had informed his attorney about a dying declaration by Lucky, who was killed in an accident a few weeks after the shooting. According to defendant, Lucky told those present at the scene of his accident that he was “on the run” because he had killed someone. Defendant claimed to have provided his attorney with monikers for and descriptions of the otherwise unnamed persons who witnessed Lucky’s dying declaration. Defense counsel told the trial court that he had

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Bluebook (online)
People v. Reyes CA2/2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-reyes-ca22-calctapp-2021.