In re R.A. CA1/2

BACKGROUND

The Facts of the Underlying Offenses We take the facts for our prior unpublished opinion in R.A.’s direct appeal. (People v. [R.A.] (Oct. 2, 2015, A140128) [nonpub. opn.].)2 “[R.A.] and [co-defendant M.R.] were members of the MS–13 gang. MS stands for Mara Salvatrucha, a reference to El Salvador; 13 represents MS– 13’s affiliation with Sureño. On July 30, 2008, the father of MS–13 gang member ‘Pistolita’ (Pistolita) was shot by a member of the Norteño, a rival gang, and some MS–13 gang members quickly met to plot revenge. The MS– 13 members who met included [R.A.], [M.R.], Acosta, Cesar Alvarado (‘Momia’), Walter Chinchilla (‘Demonio’), and Pistolita. “Some specifics concerning the revenge meeting were confirmed by the testimony of Jose (‘Chiqui’) Espinal, another MS–13 gang member, who testified in exchange for a letter of recommendation to the federal judge before whom Espinal had pleaded guilty to five charges. Espinal testified that in 2008 Pistolita’s father was shot during a confrontation with rivals who sold fake green cards in the Mission District. When MS–13 gang members learned that Pistolita’s father had been shot, they attributed the shooting to…