People v. Sandoval CA2/5

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Murder At approximately 2:20 a.m. on August 17, 2016, Jorge Pereira (Pereira) and Michael Sambrano (Sambrano) were walking to a gas station in San Pedro to purchase cigarettes. They were friends and had spent the day exercising and partying. Both men were members of the Rancho San Pedro (RSP) criminal street gang and belonged to RSP’s Santa Cruz clique.

1 Undesignated statutory references that follow are to the Penal Code.

2 As Pereira and Sambrano walked near a church on Mesa Street, a dark-colored SUV pulled alongside them and stopped. Someone from inside the SUV asked where Pereira and Sambrano were from and Sambrano said, “What?” Sambrano then moved toward the SUV, and defendant got out of the vehicle. Pereira immediately recognized defendant, having seen him around the neighborhood for years, and knew him as an RSP member who went by the name “Rhino.” Although defendant belonged to a different clique of the gang, the “Locos,” Pereira initially thought there would not be any trouble because both defendant and Sambrano were older RSP members. But when defendant asked Sambrano what clique he was from and Sambrano responded “Santa Cruz,” the two men…