People v. Savala CA3

FACTS

The Assault About 8:00 p.m. on July 4, 2012, the victim (14-years-old) made plans to meet her friends A.C., and M.A. At the time, A.C. was living with defendant Pebbles Laura Savala (Pebbles) and the girls agreed to meet there. When they arrived, there were a lot of people in the garage, including defendants David Mosqueda Savala (David) and Juan Omar Velasquez-Mosqueda (Omar).2 David is Pebbles’ brother, and Omar is their cousin. The victim was offered both beer and Ecstasy. At trial she did not recall if she drank any beer; she claimed she put the Ecstasy pill in her pocket. About 30 minutes after she arrived at Pebbles’ house, the victim received a text message from her mother, telling her to come home. She told A.C. about the message and A.C. asked the victim to come to her room. They went to A.C.’s bedroom where A.C. asked the victim to wait. A.C. came back in a few minutes and said, “[l]et’s go.” They walked through the living room where there were a lot of people. Pebbles asked the victim, “[W]hy are you talking about me?” and began hitting her. David was holding a phone and recording the incident. A.C., M.A., David, and Omar all hit the victim. A.C. kicked her and…