Prunty

Concurring and Dissenting.—I concur in the judgment and write separately to clarify the scope of our decision. The issue we address is a narrow one. It arises only when the prosecution seeks to prove a street gang enhancement by showing the defendant committed a felony to benefit a broader umbrella gang, but seeks to prove the requisite pattern of criminal gang activity with evidence of felonies committed by members of subsets to the umbrella gang. Our decision is limited to that factual scenario.

To prove the street gang enhancement, the prosecution must prove that defendant committed the underlying crime “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang . . . .” (Pen. Code, 1 § 186.22, subd. (b).) It must also prove the following:

*92 1. The defendant acted with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist criminal conduct by members of an identifiable group. As the majority notes, the group must be one that its members recognize as an ongoing entity with which they associate. (See maj. opn., ante, at pp. 82-83.)

2. That group must be of a specific kind in order to satisfy the STEP Act’s definition of a criminal street gang. The…

I. BACKGROUND

On the evening of November 26, 2010, 21-year-old Gustavo Manzo went to a fast-food restaurant in a Sacramento shopping plaza, accompanied by his girlfriend and her two younger brothers. Manzo was wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap, which is attire typically associated with Sureño street gangs. As Manzo and his companions approached the restaurant, defendant Prunty and Emilio Chacon confronted them. Prunty described himself as a “Norte” and a “Northerner,” and specifically identified as a member of the “Detroit Boulevard . . . set.” His companion Chacon was a member of the Varrio Franklin Boulevard Norteños, based out of South Sacramento. Prunty, who was wearing a red jacket, approached Manzo, asked him where he was from, and said, “fuck a Skrap, 916.” “Skrap” or “Scrap” are derogatory terms Norteño gang members use for Sureño gang members, while “916” is the Sacramento area code. In response, Manzo called Prunty and Chacon “Buster” — a derogatory term for Norteños. The confrontation escalated, with Prunty throwing gang signs and saying “this is Norte, fuck a Skrap, 916,” and Manzo and his girlfriend telling Prunty to “keep walking” and calling Prunty and…

Penal Code section 186.20 et seq., also known as the California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (the STEP Act or *67 Act), was enacted in 1988 to combat a dramatic increase in gang-related crimes and violence. The Act imposes various punishments on individuals who commit gang-related crimes—including a sentencing enhancement on those who commit felonies “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang.” (Pen. Code, § 186.22, subd. (b) (section 186.22(b)), italics added.) 1 A criminal street gang, in turn, is defined by the Act as any “ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons” that shares a common name or common identifying symbol; that has as one of its “primary activities” the commission of certain enumerated offenses; and “whose members individually or collectively” have committed or attempted to commit certain predicate offenses. (§ 186.22, subd. (1) (section 186.22(f)).) To prove that a criminal street gang exists in accordance with these statutory provisions, the prosecution must demonstrate that the gang satisfies the separate elements of the STEP Act’s definition and that the…

Concurring and Dissenting. This case was a classic gang crime. It was a confrontation between two Sacramento Norteños and a Sacramento Sureño in a shopping plaza parking lot in an area claimed by the Norteños, which escalated from the exchange of Norteños and Sureños gang slurs into a shooting that seriously injured multiple individuals, including an innocent young child. Surely, this is the very type of gang crime at which the STEP (California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention) Act was aimed. (Pen. Code, § 186.21 ; 1 People v. Rodriguez (2012) 55 Cal.4th 1125, 1129 [ 150 Cal.Rptr.3d 533 , 290 P.3d 1143 ]; People v. Albillar (2010) 51 Cal.4th 47, 55 [ 119 Cal.Rptr.3d 415 , 244 P.3d 1062 ].) Not surprisingly, the jury found defendant committed the underlying crimes “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal conduct by gang members.” (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1).)

When a reviewing court considers a claim that the evidence is insufficient to support a verdict, it considers the entire record in the light most favorable to the prosecution and presumes in support…