People v. Williams CA2/8

FACTS

Defendant, Snell and Hawkins are all members of the Bounty Hunter Bloods gang. The main rival gang of the Bounty Hunter Bloods is the Grape Street Crips. The rivalry

In defendant’s opening brief on appeal, he states that “two mistrials had been declared.” The record does not support this conclusion. Defendant’s motion to sever was granted during jury selection in the initial joint trial. He was then permitted to start trial anew with a new jury panel. There is no indication that a mistrial was declared when severance was granted. 2 between Bounty Hunter Bloods and Grape Street Crips is “the most heated and violent gang rivalry” known to the prosecution’s gang expert. Although there were relative periods of calm between the two gangs, there had been a confrontation between Bounty Hunter Bloods and Grape Street Crips on Halloween 2012 in which three people were shot. The shooting in this case occurred on November 6, 2012 – less than a week after the Halloween shooting – when crimes between the two gangs were escalating. Although some of the details of the present shooting were disputed, the main facts were these. Three men were involved in the shooting: a shooter,…