People v. Napoles CA2/1

BACKGROUND

On October 25, 2008, the date of the charged crimes, Napoles was 19 years old and Flores was 15. Evidence presented at trial demonstrates defendants were members of the Culver City Boys criminal street gang. On appeal, neither defendant challenges the jury’s true findings on the gang enhancement allegations.

2 The Shooting 1 In the late afternoon on October 25, 2008, Christina Manon drove her Honda Civic to the Mar Vista Gardens housing project where she picked up her boyfriend, Mauricio Contreras. After driving around for a while, she picked up two other males near Mar Vista Gardens, one whom she described as skinny and one chubby. Manon later identified Napoles as the skinnier male who sat behind her in the backseat of her car. She did not identify anyone as the chubbier male who sat behind Contreras in the backseat. At trial Manon stated she did not believe Flores was the chubbier male who rode in her car to and away from the scene of the crimes. The prosecution’s theory, however, is that Flores was the other male in Manon’s car. Manon drove her car, following directions from one of the passengers in the backseat. She stopped the car in an alley adjacent to a…