Lopez

I.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant Fernando Carlos Lopez appeals from a judgment entered after a jury found him guilty of premeditated attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. In challenging his convictions, Lopez raises two related contentions. First, Lopez argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for mistrial. Lopez contends that the prosecution was permitted to elicit information from a witness that suggested that Lopez was a member of a gang, and that the prosecutor’s comments about this evidence during closing arguments implied that Lopez was a gang member, all of which violated a pretrial ruling prohibiting evidence linking Lopez to a gang. Lopez argues in the alternative that the court’s decision to admit what Lopez refers to as “gang evidence” was an abuse of discretion under Evidence Code section 352 because, he asserts, the evidence was more prejudicial than probative. We conclude that neither of these arguments has merit. After full briefing on appeal was completed in this matter, Lopez sought leave to file two supplemental briefs in which he contends that this court should vacate his…