Hernandez

Defendants appeal from their convictions following a joint trial by jury. Perez was convicted of two counts of rape committed in concert; Hernandez was convicted of one count of rape in concert, one count of sodomy committed with a deadly weapon, and one count of oral copulation committed with a deadly weapon; Martinez was convicted of one count of oral copulation in concert and one count of robbery.

Defendants raise the following contentions on appeal:

Magdeleno Perez:

Manuel Hernandez'.

Jose Martinez'.

Defendants’ issues require only a brief summary of the evidence presented at trial. The offenses arose out of a “gang rape” following a party given by the victim. The three defendants and a fourth codefendant (who pleaded guilty prior to trial) were guests at the victim’s party. Late in the evening, all guests had left except for the codefendants. When asked to leave, they refused and dragged the victim into the bedroom where they proceeded to rape and sodomize her and forced her to orally copulate them, in turn. On two occasions during the course of events, the victim saw a knife in defendants’ hands. At one point, when she attempted to leave the bedroom, she hit…