People v. Joyner CA3

DISCUSSION

I There Was Sufficient Evidence Of The Gang Enhancement Defendant contends there was insufficient evidence of the gang enhancement. He argues the record is “complete[ly] lack[ing] of any evidence that the shooting was gang related or gang motivated, or that [defendant‟s] conduct was in any way gang-related.” Not so. We begin with the words of the gang enhancement, which applies an increased term of incarceration to: “[A]ny person who is convicted of a felony committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal conduct by gang members.” (Pen. Code, § 186.22, subd. (b)(1).) The facts, in the light most favorable to the judgment (which is the standard of review for a sufficiency-of-evidence argument) (Jackson v. Virginia (1979) 443 U.S. 307, 319 [61 L.Ed.2d 560, 573]), provided sufficient evidentiary support for this enhancement. The victim‟s fiancé and the gang expert both testified the victim was a 29th Street Crip. The mother of defendant‟s son and the gang expert testified defendant and Newsome were both members of the rival Oak Park Bloods. The…