People v. Perez CA2/8

background. An information charged Perez and two codefendants with murder. Perez and his codefendants are members of the Temple Street gang. The three men pulled up in a Volvo next to an Altima at an intersection. The occupants of the Volvo exchanged words with the driver of the Altima, Jimmy Pineda. The occupants of the Volvo then pulled out two guns and shot several bullets at the Altima. The bullets hit and killed Pineda, a member of rival gang 18th Street. The Volvo sped off, but police captured the three men and recovered two guns from their flight path. Police found Perez’s DNA on one of the recovered guns. A jury convicted all three men of first degree murder. (§ 187, subd. (a).) The jury found true that the men committed the murder for the benefit of a street gang and that a principal personally discharged a firearm proximately causing death. (§§ 186.22, subd. (b), 12022.53, subds. (d) & (e).) The trial court did not instruct the jury on felony murder or the natural and probable consequences doctrine. The court sentenced each man

2 to 50 years to life: 25 years for the murder charge and 25 years for the gun enhancement. This court affirmed the judgment on appeal. After…