People v. Ramirez CA2/5

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Offense Conduct, Trial, and Direct Appeal2 On New Year’s Day in 1991, defendant and Anthony Lupe Chavez (Chavez), both members of the Chivas criminal street gang, discussed going to the territory of the Varrio Norwalk gang and shooting one of its members in retaliation for an earlier incident in which a Varrio Norwalk member shot a Chivas member in Chivas territory. Chavez was armed with a shotgun, and he and defendant stole a car and then drove into Varrio Norwalk territory and passed a park where Varrio Norwalk members were known to gather. Varrio Norwalk member Jordy

1 Undesignated statutory references that follow are to the Penal Code. 2 The summary of defendant’s offense conduct is drawn from the opinion resolving defendant’s direct appeal (People v. Ramirez (Dec. 14, 1993, B071160) [nonpub. opn.]). The description of the offense conduct, however, is provided for background purposes only and does not affect our analysis or disposition of the appeal.

2 Rodriguez (Rodriguez) saw defendant and shouted “Norwalk!” Defendant yelled back, “Fuck Norwalk, Chivas” and drove toward Rodriguez. Chavez aimed the shotgun at Rodriguez from the car and fired four or…