People v. Mooney CA2/3

BACKGROUND

I. Evidence at the trial

Mooney and Waters were jointly tried for crimes arising from the murder of an usher at a movie theater during a robbery. When they committed the crimes, Mooney was 17 years old, and Waters was 18 years old. The evidence was as follows. In January 1991, Dan Barron, Phong Ho, Luis Aguilar, and Donald Hernandez were working at a movie theater in the Del Amo mall.2 Barron managed the theater, Ho was an assistant

1 All further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

Effective June 30, 2022, section 1170.95 was renumbered to section 1172.6, with no change in text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) 2 Sam Goldman was also working at the theater that night, but it is unclear whether he was present during the relevant events.

2 manager, Aguilar ran the film projector, and Hernandez was an usher. James Ryan, Greg Deramus, and George De La Fuente were also at the theater on the night of the incident to do a painting job. Friday and Saturday nights and Sundays were the busiest and most profitable times for the theater. Just after midnight on Sunday, January 13, 1991,3 one or two movies were still playing. Due to the late hour, the mall…