People v. Rodriguez CA5

INTRODUCTION

After a petty quarrel on social media intensified, two groups of young people agreed to meet one night in a high school parking lot where one member from each group was to fight to resolve the dispute. Appellant Joshua Amando Rodriguez — not one of the two designated fighters — instead brought a gun. Unfortunately, perhaps because of the online squabble, Rodriguez pulled his gun out of his waistband and approached the opposing group’s two pickup trucks as they pulled to a stop in the otherwise empty parking lot. Rodriguez began shouting for Eric A., one of the original instigators of the social media dispute and one of the would–be fight contestants. Rodriguez found Eric A. seated in the passenger seat of the first truck, thrust his gun through the partially open passenger side window, and struck Eric A. in the head. Eric A. pushed Rodriguez’s arm back out the window and Rodriguez responded by quickly firing three shots, one of which struck Eric A. and killed him. Ira K., the driver, had started to pull away when Eric A. pushed Rodriguez’s arm out the window, although he was not shot. Rodriguez then turned and fired several more shots at the second truck as it too…