People v. Rosas and Juarez CA2/1

BACKGROUND

Around midnight on February 20, 2009, Miguel Martinez parked his car on Union Pacific Avenue between Indiana Street and Hicks Avenue in East Los Angeles. (Undesignated date references pertain to 2009.) Martinez testified that the two passengers in his car, Joe Lopez and Guadalupe Ramirez, got out of the car and began walking toward Indiana Street. Martinez was putting away his car stereo deck and remained in the car. He and Lopez were members of a tagging crew called the Insane Tagging Crew, or ITC for short. Ramirez was a member of the Gage Maravilla gang. Martinez testified they were going to a party near Olympic Boulevard and Indiana Street, about one block away. He denied they intended to tag, break into cars, or write graffiti in the area. Martinez heard people running past his car, looked up, and saw two men running in the street, one of whom was holding a gun. He did not see where they had come from. Martinez honked his car‘s horn to alert Lopez and Ramirez, who began running toward Indiana Street. The gunman turned and pointed the gun toward Martinez, who ducked down in his car. The gunman began firing toward Lopez and Ramirez. Martinez started

2 his car and,…