People v. Sanford CA2/5

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Offense Conduct Julio Perez (Julio) was the driver of an SUV early one morning in November 2006.2 His passengers were his brother Christopher Perez (Christopher); Christopher’s girlfriend, Sara Graeff; Loza; and Gilbert Rivera (Rivera).

1 Undesignated statutory references that follow are to the Penal Code. 2 This court granted defendant’s request to take judicial notice of the record in his direct appeal from his convictions at trial: People v. Julio Perez and Eric Sanford (May 7, 2010, B211015) [nonpub. opn.] (Sanford I). Defendant was tried separately from another of the SUV’s occupants—Adam Loza (Loza)—and the different trials explain why our factual recitation here varies in significant respects from the factual recitation in Loza’s case, which resulted in a published opinion resolving his habeas corpus petition. (In re Loza (2017) 10 Cal.App.5th 38.)

2 When the SUV’s occupants saw defendant (then 15 years old) on the street, Julio stopped. Defendant had a gun in his hand and approached the vehicle, saying, “Let me in the car, let me in the car.” After defendant entered the SUV, he said to the others, “I just shot someone in the head. The cops are…