People v. Gutierrez CA2/3

BACKGROUND

Appellant testified at trial he is a Bell Gardens Locos gang member. The prosecution’s trial evidence established that about 10:30 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2010, appellant fired his .380-caliber handgun five times at four youths standing in front of an Ira Avenue, Bell Gardens, residence. Appellant was accompanied by fellow gang members, K.L., who remained in the car, and V.P., who got out of the car

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code, unless otherwise designated.

2 at the same time as appellant. The Ira Avenue residence was a well-known White Fence gang hangout. During the shooting, one of the youths standing in the front yard, Alejandro Hernandez, was fatally wounded. One of the five discharged bullets entered the Ira Avenue residence, which was occupied by five or six persons, including children. The bullet pierced a window and an interior bedroom wall and narrowly missed the head of a sleeping adult. Two eyewitnesses testified appellant was the gunman. One eyewitness, K.L., a fellow gang member and former close friend of appellant, testified under a grant of immunity that appellant was the gunman. C.L., one of the youths standing…