People v. Barraza CA5

INTRODUCTION

Shortly after midnight, on March 11, 2020, Andrew Nehemiah Barraza (appellant) shot and killed Javier Rodriguez, Jr. in the street next to a gas station. A jury convicted appellant of first degree murder (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 189, subd. (a); count 1)1 with an enhancement for intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death (§ 12022.53, subd. (d)), and of being a felon in possession of a firearm (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1); count 2). The jury was unable to reach a verdict as to the lying-in-wait special circumstance allegation. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(15).) In a bifurcated proceeding, the trial court found appellant suffered a prior strike conviction. (§ 1170.12, subds. (a)–(d).) The trial court sentenced appellant to an indeterminate term of 75 years to life in state prison. On appeal, appellant claims the trial court committed prejudicial error in allowing the People to admit gang evidence to prove motive and rebut appellant’s testimony that he acted in self-defense. We conclude that any presumed error in admitting the gang evidence was harmless. We also reject appellant’s claim that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the jury’s finding…