Montes

Juan Alexander Montes was convicted of attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, exhibiting a firearm, street terrorism, and attendant firearm use and gang enhancements. On appeal, he contends the evidence is insufficient to support some of the counts and the trial court’s aiding and abetting instructions were flawed. We affirm.

One night, Montes and several other members of the Orange Krazy Mexicans gang (OKM) were hanging out in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant when Jorge Garcia pulled in with Eduardo Flores and two females. Garcia expected trouble because he used to belong to a gang called the Varrio Pelones Locos (VPL), a rival of OKM. In fact, two months earlier, Montes and another OKM member had confronted Garcia and Flores at the very same restaurant. During that meeting, Montes hit Flores in the head with a stick.

This time Montes greeted Garcia by dousing his car with soda and yelling, “Fuck VPL.” Then, after Garcia parked and exited his car, Montes and his cohorts quickly surrounded him. Garcia pulled a switchblade, but Montes had a three-foot chain, which Garcia described as “kind of thick” and bigger than…