Sifuentes

*1413 Opinion

A jury found defendants Juan Lopez and Reno Phillip Sifuentes guilty of possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, § 12021, subd. (a)(1); all statutory citations are to the Penal Code unless specified) with a gang enhancement (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)). The jury also convicted both defendants of active gang participation (§ 186.22, subd. (a)) and convicted Sifuentes of methamphetamine possession (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377). Sifuentes admitted suffering several prior convictions.

Sifuentes contends the doctrine of constructive possession cannot be stretched to support the firearm conviction against him, and both defendants challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the gang enhancement on the firearm possession charge and their conviction for active gang participation. They also complain the trial court admitted improper opinion testimony from the gang expert. In the published portion of this opinion, we agree the evidence does not support the conclusion Sifuentes had the right to control the firearm discovered near Lopez. Accordingly, Sifuentes’s gang enhancement and active gang participation conviction cannot stand because both were based on the…