People v. Thomas CA1/1

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Thomas Is Convicted of Attempted Murder Thomas’s conviction arose from a shooting he perpetrated with a codefendant, Mark Candler.2 The shooting victim was a leader in an Oakland street gang who got into a confrontation with a rival gang member associated with Candler. Later in the same day as that confrontation, Thomas and Candler arrived at the victim’s location in two separate vehicles, each armed. Police heard over 30 gunshots fired in rapid succession and encountered a vehicle fleeing the scene, but were unable to apprehend it. There were numerous shell casings from two different weapons at the scene, and “pock-marked” homes from gunfire, but no witnesses would speak to the police. Two years after the events, witnesses including the victim made statements to the police identifying Candler and Thomas as the shooters. By the time of trial, the victim had been killed and the other witnesses recanted. Their prior statements were related to the jury through recordings or the testimony of investigating officers. Thomas and Candler were charged with attempted murder (§§ 187, subd. (a), 664) and shooting at an inhabited dwelling (§ 246).…