People v. Uy CA3

California Court of Appeal·Decided December 31, 2013·No. C063037·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 12/31/13 P. v. Uy CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (San Joaquin) ----

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, C063037

v. (Super. Ct. No. SF107288B)

RATTANY UY,

Defendant and Appellant.

Plaintiff and Respondent, C063481

v. (Super. Ct. No. SF107288A)

CHANREASMEY PRUM,

1 In separate jury trials, defendants Rattany Uy and Chanreasmey Prum were convicted of first degree murder as active participants in, and for the benefit of, a criminal street gang. They were also convicted of three attempted premeditated murders, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle, carrying a loaded firearm by a gang participant, carrying a concealed firearm by a gang participant, possession of a firearm by a felon (as to Prum only), and active participation in a criminal street gang. Of relevance to the issues on appeal, the trial court sentenced defendants as follows: Uy to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder plus a consecutive 10-year prison term on the Penal Code section 186.22 enhancement; and Prum to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder and three consecutive terms of 15 years to life in prison for attempted murder, plus 10 years (count 4) and additional 15-year-to-life terms (counts 1, 2, 3 and 5) for Penal Code section 186.22 enhancements. We consolidated the appeals for argument and decision only. In part I we address Uy’s contentions, and in part II we address Prum’s contentions. Uy claims (A) a statement he made to police is inadmissible because it was not voluntary; (B) the trial court erred in giving the jury a “kill zone” instruction because there was no substantial evidence of the creation of a kill zone; (C) the trial court erred by treating life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) as the presumptive penalty for the murder conviction, Uy’s LWOP sentence is erroneous because the probation report and the trial court did not consider relevant mitigating factors, and Uy’s trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to the deficient probation report and failing to argue relevant mitigating factors; and (D) the trial court erred in imposing a 10-year enhancement for benefitting a criminal street gang on the count 1 murder conviction. We conclude Uy’s contentions lack merit except for his last contention challenging the 10-year enhancement. Because Uy received a sentence of life without the possibility of parole on the count 1 murder conviction, and because Penal Code

2 section 186.22, subdivision (b)(1)1 does not increase the penalty for gang-related felonies punishable by indeterminate sentences, we will modify the judgment by striking the 10- year enhancement on count 1 imposed pursuant to section 186.22, subdivision (b)(1). We will affirm the judgment against Uy as modified. Prum contends (A) the trial court erred in admitting cumulative and irrelevant character evidence; (B) there was insufficient evidence to establish that members of the Bloods street gang engage in a pattern of criminal gang activity; (C) the trial court erred in instructing the jury with CALCRIM No. 372 [defendant’s flight] because there was no evidence supporting an inference of consciousness of guilt; (D) the jury instruction given for attempted murder (former CALCRIM No. 600) did not accurately explain the kill zone theory; (E) there was insufficient evidence that Prum attempted to kill Renee and her daughters; (F) the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on the elements for carrying a loaded firearm by a gang participant (count 6) and carrying a concealed firearm by a gang participant (count 7); and (G) the trial court committed various sentencing errors. Regarding Prum’s contentions, we agree that the trial court should have instructed the jury on the elements of carrying a loaded firearm by a gang participant (count 6) and carrying a concealed firearm by a gang participant (count 7), and that the omission requires reversal of those convictions. (People v. Cummings (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1233, 1311-1315 (Cummings).) We also agree with some of Prum’s assertions regarding sentencing error. We will modify the judgment to strike the life sentences imposed pursuant to section 186.22, subdivision (b)(1) on the convictions for counts 1, 2 and 3, to strike the 10-year prison term enhancement on the conviction for count 4, and to reflect

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

3 that Prum is sentenced on the count 5 conviction to a term of 15 years to life in prison. We will affirm the judgment against Prum as modified. BACKGROUND Members of the Bloods street gang consider the area around Louis Park in Stockton to be part of their gang territory. The Original Bloods and the West Side Bloods are subsets of the Bloods gang. Hostility between members of the Bloods and members of the Norteño street gang erupted during a 2008 New Year’s party with an exchange of words and gunfire. Some Bloods believed that John Tellez, Jr. (John Jr.), a Norteño, shot at Bloods at the party. There was another exchange of gunfire on January 25, 2008. Two weeks later, on February 8, 2008, John Jr. was at Louis Park with family and friends, including his father’s girlfriend Renee and her children Aaron, Alana and Marissa. John Jr. wore a red sweater, a red belt with “14” on the belt buckle signifying the letter “N” for Norteño, red and black shoes, and a red and black hat. Red is the color associated with the Norteños. Red is also the color associated with the Bloods. Renee noticed four men walking toward John Jr. One of the men wore a black hoodie and had a red bandana over his nose and mouth. According to gang expert Detective Paul Gutierrez, gang members often “posse up” and cover their faces with bandanas or “mask up” when they commit a crime. John Jr. recognized the man with the red bandana as “Beast,” someone he knew from the neighborhood as affiliated with West Side Bloods. At trial, Prum admitted he was known as “Beast” and was the man in the red bandana. Prum pulled his bandana down and spoke to John Jr. in a loud and aggressive voice. He called John Jr. “Little John” and asked “What’s up?” and “Where’s your

4 friends?” Prum told John Jr. “I got you now, you’re slipping”2 and said that John Jr. was lucky he was with his family otherwise Prum would “blast [John Jr.] right now.” Prum called out “West Side Bloods” and his companions yelled West Side Bloods slogans. One of Prum’s companions bobbed up and down, made gang hand gestures, and called out “West Side Bloods.” Prum pulled out a MAC-10 type firearm and pointed it at John Jr. Renee ran to get her children. John Jr. told Prum there were kids around and they would “handle it” another time. According to John Jr. a gang rule dictated that gang members do not handle “business” when family, especially children, were around. Prum told John Jr. and his group to get out of the park. John Jr.’s father said they would leave immediately. Prum and his companions walked away. John Jr. did not yell anything or challenge anyone as he left, and neither did anyone from his group. Although John Jr. had a loaded nine-millimeter semiautomatic handgun on his person, he did not pull out his gun during the confrontation with Prum. John Jr.’s group ran to their cars and left the parking lot quickly. Renee’s son Aaron sat in the front passenger seat of Renee’s car, while her daughters Alana and Marissa sat in the backseat. Gunfire erupted as the line of cars drove off. John Jr.

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