People v. Renteria CA2/8

FACTS

I. The Crimes

Count 3 –– The Attempted Premeditated Murder Renteria was a member of the Avenues gang. His gang moniker was “Snapper.” On May 15, 2007, a SUV drove up alongside Luis Piche as he was walking on the side- walk on York Avenue, in an area within the territory claimed by the Highland Park gang. Renteria “hit up” Piche, that is, he asked “where he was from.” Piche said he was from “Highland Park” and added, “Fuck Noodles,” a derogatory term for the Avenues gang. At that point, Renteria leaned out of the SUV with a “big” or “long” gun, later recovered and determined to be a AKA semiautomatic rifle, and “just started shooting.” Renteria fired upwards of 20 times. Police recovered 13 shell casings at the scene. Piche was hit by 14 bullets. He survived, but was hospitalized for two months. He used a wheelchair for more than a year, and then needed leg braces, walkers and canes to walk. The Piche shooting remained an open investigation for some time after it occurred.

1 All further section references are to the Penal Code except as otherwise noted. 2 In late October 2007, officers with the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) “Criminal Apprehension Team”…