People v. Avila CA2/5

Facts On September 2, 2012, in the evening, Jahir Rivas parked his 2013 Nissan Altima in the 7-Eleven store parking lot at the intersection of Hubbard Street and Borden Avenue in Los Angeles. Rivas’s friends “Mario,” Juan Alzaga, Maritza Guillen, Joanna Gomez and Patricia Ramos were in the car. As Rivas and Mario walked toward the store, appellant approached Rivas and asked if he had any spare change. Rivas said no and walked into the store with Mario. Ramos got out of the car to make a phone call. Appellant approached her and asked for money. Ramos was afraid and got back into the car. Appellant came over to the car and tried to make conversation with its occupants. He leaned in through the window and started “looking inside the car taking [a] view of the interior.” Alzaga told

2 appellant to get away. When appellant did not leave, Alzaga got out of the car and again said, “Get away.” Appellant moved toward Alzaga “aggressively.” Appellant cursed and asked if Alzaga “wanted a piece of him.” Alzaga stated that he saw appellant make a fist, felt threatened and punched appellant as he drew near. According to Guillen, appellant hit Alzaga first. Appellant punched Alzaga about ten…