People v. Langarica CA3

BACKGROUND

Phillip Corral, then in his mid-twenties, recruited four younger men to accompany him in a stolen Chevrolet Suburban to collect a debt from a man he identified as Gustavo. The group included Corral’s brother Gabriel Langarica, plus Robert Ortega, Francisco Barba, and a man they called “Smiley.” Barba said he knew Langarica from school, but he had not previously met Corral. Barba remembered Corral as a light-skinned bald Mexican. Barba met Ortega on the day of the crime. Ortega had known Langarica for several months and had known Corral a shorter time.

2 Near midnight on the evening of October 13, 2006, Ortega stole an old Suburban and turned it over to Corral. Barba and Ortega testified that Corral was the leader and driver that night. Ortega testified that Corral promised to pay him to “rough up” Gustavo. Gustavo later acknowledged a dispute with a man over a car and said the man had threatened to kill him. Gustavo said he had recently repossessed the car after the other man stopped making payments on it. He denied knowing the defendants. Gustavo worked at a restaurant where he normally finished work between midnight and 1:00 a.m.; that night, he did not leave work…