The People v. Alamos CA2/5

DISCUSSION

The facts are briefly summarized in the light most favorable to the judgment. (People v. Barnes (1986) 42 Cal.3d 284, 303.) Appellant and Gabriel Lopez were members of the Morton Town Stoners street gang. The victim in this case, Elden Mignault, was a member of the Southside Nuthood Watts street gang. His moniker was “Tripps.” The two gangs were competing for control of the area in which the murder occurred. In the afternoon of July 7, 2010, appellant chased Mignault down an alley. At some point, he slowed to a near stop, raised a handgun and fired multiple rounds at Mignault. Lopez ran toward appellant, saw a neighbor was watching, and told him not to fire the weapon. Mignault was hit in the back by two bullets and died. The on looking neighbor (a person who rented a backhouse from Lopez’s parents) identified appellant as the shooter at the preliminary hearing and at trial. Other evidence

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 implicating appellant as the shooter was: (1) the recorded statement given to the police by the mother of Lopez’s child indicating she observed appellant fire the weapon; and (2) the recorded statement of a gang member…