Olguin

Cesar Javier Olguin and Francisco Calderon Mora were convicted of second degree murder for the killing of John Ramirez. In addition, firearm and criminal street gang enhancements were found to be true. Both defendants appealed on several grounds, and we consolidated the cases for review.

I

In March 1992, Olguin lived on West Elder in Santa Ana, two houses away from the intersection of Elder and Shelley. He spray-painted the phrase “BSSR FTR El Cisco” on the street curb in the intersection, staking territorial claim to the area. The graffiti referred to the Southside F Troop street gang (Southside) and his nickname, El Cisco. Later, Olguin noticed someone had crossed out his graffiti by spray-painting a line through it and writing the Shelley Street gang’s logo nearby. Although he knew Shelley Street was a defunct gang, Olguin assumed one of its former members had defaced his graffiti. He interpreted it as a sign of disrespect and a challenge to his territorial claim.

In the late afternoon of March 27, Olguin, along with Mora and Jesse Hilario, two other Southside members, looked at the crossed-out graffiti. Mora and Hilario agreed to go with Olguin to discover who did…