People v. Hodges CA2/6

FACTS

On the evening of June 6, 2000, Troy Cox, Desmond Alexander, and a man called “S-Dog” were outside a house in Los

All statutory references are to the Penal Code. Angeles. They were affiliated with the Bloods street gang. Hodges and a man with a blue cap walked by. Alexander and S-Dog wanted to know why a man in a blue cap was in the Bloods’ neighborhood. A fight broke out. Five or 10 minutes later, Hodges and his friend retreated. Alexander ran to the back of the house followed by Hodges and the man in the blue cap who were armed. Cox heard gun shots. Alexander was dead. Hodges and the man in the blue cap returned to a car and drove away. More than one firearm was involved in this incident. Later that night, Cox identified Hodges’s picture in a photographic lineup as the person who shot Alexander. The jury found Hodges guilty of first degree murder (§ 187, subd, (a)) with findings that he used and discharged a firearm (§ 12022.53). The prosecutor’s theory was that Hodges was the person who actually shot and killed Alexander. But the jury rejected that claim. The jury made the following finding: “We further find the allegation that in the commission of the above…