United States v. Lorenzo Gonzalez

Lorenzo Gonzalez appeals his conviction and sentence following a jury trial in which he was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy (Count One) and of two counts of committing a violent crime in aid of a racketeering enterprise (“VICAR”): conspiracy to murder rival gang members (Count Two) and conspiracy to murder Edward Clark (Count Ten). In this opinion, we consider only Gonzalez’s argument that the district court’s instructions to the jury on Count Two violated his right to a unanimous jury verdict. In a concurrently filed memorandum disposition, we address Gonzalez’s remaining challenges to his con viction and sentence. See United States v. Gonzalez, — Fed.Appx. - (9th Cir.2015). We affirm his conviction on Count Two.

I. Background

Gonzalez, a member of the 38th Street Gang, was charged in Count Two with the VICAR offense of conspiracy to murder rival gang members under California law. The Government’s evidence against Gonzalez on Count Two primarily consisted of wiretapped telephone conversations between Gonzalez and other 38th Street Gang members relating to different (often unnamed) members of different gangs and occurring on different dates. In his proposed jury…