People v. Phothirath CA3

BACKGROUND

We take the facts from our opinion in the prior appeal, People v. Xabandith et al. (July 5, 2005, C045950) [nonpub. opn.].2 “This is not a case of conflicting eyewitness accounts. It is remarkable only for what no one saw. No one testified there was any provocation for the beating or for the shooting. No one testified the victim threw gang signs, ‘mad dogged’ the patrons at the bar, showed any disrespect to the ECC [El Camino

We incorporated the record in case No. C045950 by reference.

2 Crips], or challenged defendants to a fight. No one testified they saw who shot Chanthala Banemanyvong. No one heard anyone yell out ‘ECC’ or claim gang affiliation. “The witnesses did agree, however, on a general chronology of events leading up to the shooting. Banemanyvong arrived at a bar on El Camino Avenue in Sacramento at approximately 11:00 p.m. on August 11, 2001. Three friends, all of whom had been drinking beer before they arrived at the bar, accompanied him. Banemanyvong sat down at a table with a friend, Bounloth Chandara, who was also known as Loddi. Aware that a group of Laotian men were giving him ‘mean look[s]’ and ‘mad-dogging’ him, Banemanyvong decided to go…