People v. Chavez CA4/1

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Both parties rely on a brief statement of facts taken from our prior opinion. We

will utilize the same summary for convenience.

[T]he 20- and 23-year-old victims were sailors enlisted in the United States Navy,

one of whom was driving a brand new Toyota pickup truck. The victims were murdered

at a location where young adults, including other Navy personnel and their friends,

frequently gathered to drink, listen to music and socialize around a number of bonfires.

Multiple witnesses recalled that [appellant], who was 17 at the time of the killings, was at

the scene of the bonfires shortly before the murders took place. The witnesses also

uniformly recalled that [appellant] was in the company of at least one other teenager or

young adult and that [appellant] and his companion were acting in a very aggressive and

threatening manner toward other Navy personnel and their friends present at the bonfires.

Four days after the murders, [appellant] was stopped in Tijuana, Mexico, while driving

3 the 20-year-old victim's new Toyota pickup truck. Importantly, some years after the

murders, investigators were able to match DNA retrieved from the pants pocket…