People v. Mariano CA2/6

FACTS

In the early morning hours of September 23, 2018, Mariano called Antoinette Acosta and asked to come over to her house “and drink.” After he arrived, Steven Santana called Acosta because he wanted to buy drugs from her. Mariano and Acosta went to an “Airbnb” house where Santana had been staying. Santana told Acosta the drugs were for his friend and his friend would pay her. Acosta displayed her cocaine for sale. Santana took the drugs then told Acosta that he would be right back and he left. Santana had been gone for 15 minutes. Acosta was now worried that she was not going to be paid for her drugs. She went through the house knocking on doors looking for Santana. Acosta went back to the area of the home where she had placed her drugs and noticed that her drugs were gone. She started screaming for Santana and texted him on his cell phone. Santana did not respond to Acosta’s phone calls and text messages. Acosta testified that Mariano has “always been kind of like the protector.” She told him, “[E]verything is gone. They took the drugs.” Mariano began yelling, “Where is he?” Acosta pointed to the area of the home where she thought Santana might be staying. James Zou…