People v. Asberry CA5

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Bakersfield police responded to a report of shots fired around 1:41 a.m. on September 26, 2012. In an alley near the intersection of 34th Street and Panama Street, they found Christopher Gonzales (Christopher) face down on the ground, dead with a gunshot wound to the chest. Nearby on his knees, also bleeding from a gunshot wound, was Christopher’s brother, Andrew Gonzales (Andrew). Andrew told officers there had been an argument and the shooter was a black teenage boy who was accompanied by two young black men. The district attorney filed an information charging Asberry and Peter Collins (Collins) in the shootings. As will be seen, these defendants were accused as accomplices, not direct perpetrators. The People’s evidence indicated that a third perpetrator, Gary A. (Gary), was the shooter. The information charged Asberry and Collins with Christopher’s murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187) in count 1 and with the attempted murder (§§ 187, 664) of Andrew in count 2. The information alleged that Asberry and Collins committed both offenses for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang. (§ 186.22, subd. (b).) Both offenses…