People v. Bonaparte CA4/1

I.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Jonathan Gonzalez was shot and killed in the street outside a taco shop. The fatal

wound was inflicted by a .38 caliber bullet fired at close range.

The day before the murder, Tajanae Runnells, Bonaparte's girlfriend, overheard a

telephone conversation in which Bonaparte arranged to meet Gonzalez on the day of the

murder to buy drugs. At the time, Runnells and Bonaparte were unemployed and living

together in a motel room, and she allowed him to drive her great-grandmother's burgundy

Cadillac to sell crack cocaine as a source of income. On the day Gonzalez was murdered,

Bonaparte and another man left the motel in the Cadillac to meet Gonzalez.

Reyes Rodriguez was inside the taco shop talking to Gonzalez shortly before he

was killed. As they were talking, Gonzalez received a telephone call during which

Rodriguez heard Gonzalez say: "Is that you on the red Cadillac? I see where you're at.

I'll be right there right now."1 Gonzalez finished the call, exited the taco shop, and

A detective subsequently obtained records for Gonzalez's mobile telephone, which showed several calls on the day of the murder to and from a…