People v. Velasquez-Mosqueda CA3

BACKGROUND

In July 2012, the victim, who was 14 years old at the time, went with two friends to a birthday party at a house. Pebbles Savala, who lived at the house, was dating Edgar Mares, who had previously dated the victim. Pebbles informed Edgar by telephone that she was going to beat up the victim. Edgar was incarcerated at the time. The phone conversation between Pebbles and Edgar was recorded and played for the jury. About 35 minutes after arriving at the house, the victim received a text message from her mother telling her to come home. When the victim attempted to leave, Pebbles confronted her and said, “Why are you talking about me?” Pebbles punched the victim numerous times. Pebbles’s brother, David Savala, videotaped the incident and encouraged Pebbles to hit the victim. The videotape was played for the jury. While Pebbles was hitting the victim, other people at the party yelled, “Get her, get her.” At one point, A.C., M.A., David and defendant joined in the attack. Defendant punched the victim in the face and kicked or hit the victim in her “private area.” He also attempted to pull the victim’s pants down. After the attack ended, David pushed the victim out the front…