Zermeno

When a defendant commits an aggravated assault and a fellow gang member aids and abets that assault by preventing anyone from stepping in, does their conduct amount to “two or more offenses” committed “on separate occasions, or by two or more persons” so as to establish a “pattern of criminal gang activity” under Penal Code section 186.22, thus subjecting the defendant to increased punishment? Unlike the Court of Appeal, we conclude that under applicable law, the combined activity of defendant and his companion, who facilitated defendant’s commission of the assault, was a single offense.

I

The prosecution charged Javier Francisco Zermeno with assaulting Enrique Garcia with a deadly weapon. (§ 245, subd. (a)(1).) It further alleged that the crime was committed to benefit a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)) and that defendant had previously served a prison term for a serious felony (§§ 667, subds. (a), (d) & (e), 1170.12, subds. (b) & (c)); both allegations, if found true, would increase the punishment for the charged offense. At trial, the prosecution presented this evidence:

On the evening of July 19, 1996, Enrique Garcia drove from Buellton to Santa…