People v. Rodriguez CA6

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Underlying Offenses Rodriguez was a member of the Norteño gang. He also had a long-simmering feud with the Gonzalez brothers, who were members of the rival Sureño gang. In late March 2011, Rodriguez woke up to find the tires on his car slashed, and he saw the Gonzalez brothers nearby. As the two brothers were known to do such things, Rodriguez believed that they had slashed his tires, became angry, and decided to retaliate. Rodriguez texted Turcios and Vargas, who were fellow members of the Norteño gang, about the slashing of his tires and recruited them to retaliate against the Gonzalez brothers. Rodriguez planned for Turcios and Vargas to lure one brother out of his apartment (by slashing his tires) and then shoot him. To implement this plan, Rodriguez purchased a .357 magnum for Turcios, and Vargas secured a .45-caliber firearm for himself. Rodriguez also arranged with a gang associate to hide out in another town “after we smoke” someone. Two hours before the shooting, Rodriguez texted a friend that “u should stay inside” because “[s]omething gon to happen tonight.” Later, shortly before the shooting, Rodriguez picked up Turcios and then Vargas, drove them…