In re Cabrera

INTRODUCTION

In 2008, California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) determined that inmate Elvin Cabrera was an associate of the Mexican Mafia prison gang (EME) based on his possession of photocopies of four drawings, two of which included part of the names of EME affiliates as the artists. Cabrera challenged his gang validation in a petition for writ of habeas corpus.

This court granted Cabrera’s petition in a September 2011 opinion, but the California Supreme Court reversed, concluding our decision was based on an improper interpretation of the CDCR’s regulation. (In re Cabrera (2012) 55 Cal.4th 683 [ 148 Cal.Rptr.3d 500 , 287 P.3d 72 ].) The Supreme Court remanded for further proceedings and directed us to resolve two issues, the first being; “Whether the evidence is sufficient, under the regulation as properly construed, to uphold the validation of Cabrera as a gang associate .. . .” (Id. at p. 692.)

Applying the deferential “some evidence” standard of judicial review, we conclude that two of the photocopied drawings, containing part of the names of EME affiliates as the artists, do not support a finding that Cabrera had an “association” (i.e., a…