The People v. Barajas CA6

BACKGROUND

Defendant was 16 years old and a Norteno gang member. While watching television with and at the home of Sarah Benevides, a neighborhood friend and San Jose Grande gang member, he asked Benevides whether there were any Sureno gang members at a party that was in progress in a home across the street. Benevides opined that the partygoers were nongang affiliated. Later, Javier Tienda left the party to smoke a cigarette and drink a beer outside on the driveway. Defendant then left Benevides’s home, crossed the street, and asked Tienda in gang slang whether Tienda was related to a gang. Tienda replied negatively. Defendant then walked back across the street to Benevides’s home. There, he encountered Eduardo Alvarez who lived in Benevides’s home. Alvarez asked defendant about purchasing marijuana, and defendant affirmed that they could purchase some at the corner. The two then proceeded to walk to the corner. Defendant, however, crossed the street and walked back to Tienda who had been joined by his cousin Robert Betancourt. He asked Tienda whether Tienda was still looking at him. Tienda replied that he was just smoking a cigarette and not related to a gang. When defendant…