Aleman

FACTS

The February 2008 Shooting of Victor Iriarte1 On February 23, 2008, Victor Iriarte went to El Rodeo nightclub in Pico Rivera with his brother and two friends, including Jose Macias. Defendant Aleman and his friend, defendant Medrano, were also at the nightclub. Iriarte recognized defendants. A woman who briefly dated Aleman told police that Aleman and his friends got into fights at El Rodeo with friends of prominent “big shot” Macias. Iriarte was tipsy when he arrived at El Rodeo, and proceeded to drink eight or nine glasses of liquor while there. He departed at closing time in a friend’s Camaro. Three to five gunshots were fired at the Camaro, one of which struck Iriarte. He was hospitalized for a grazing bullet wound to his chest, inches from his heart. Iriarte told detectives that a white SUV was driving near the driver’s side of the Camaro when the shooting began. At trial, Iriarte claimed little memory about the incident, and was reluctant to testify. At 2:11 a.m. on February 23, 2008, police received a call about a shooting involving a white Escalade in the City of Montebello, one mile from El Rodeo nightclub. Minutes later, police stopped a white Escalade at a red…