People v. Gonzales

Steven Gonzales, his cousin, Michael Ronnie Gonzales, Jr., and Manuel R. Jimenez appeal from their judgments of conviction by jury verdict of the murder of Julian Llamas during a fistfight. Manuel Jimenez shot Llamas. Steven Gonzales and Michael Gonzales were tried and convicted as aiders and abettors. (For sake of clarity, we sometimes refer to the Gonzales defendants by their first names.) Michael joins in all of Steven’s arguments except for those based on intra- and inter-jurisdictional cruel and unusual punishment analysis. Jimenez joins in the arguments made by his codefendants, particularly those relating to the admission of testimony by a gang expert and cruel and unusual punishment.

In the published portion of this opinion, we address Steven’s primary arguments on appeal: (1) that his conviction on the natural and probable consequences theory of aiding and abetting is not supported by sufficient evidence; and (2) that the trial court had a sua sponte duty to instruct that guilt based on the natural and probable consequences theory was dependent upon knowledge that Jimenez was armed. We are not persuaded by either argument. The factual issue of whether the aiders…