People v. Amante CA1/4

I. BACKGROUND

In 2005, following a jury trial, Amante and three other defendants were convicted of first degree murder. The jury found true a special circumstance allegation that Amante and his codefendants intentionally killed the victim

All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise noted.

1 while they were active participants in a criminal street gang and that the murder was carried out to further the activities of the criminal street gang (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(22)). At trial, the prosecution advanced three theories of liability for murder: (1) that each defendant was the actual perpetrator; (2) that each defendant was a direct aider and abettor; and (3) that each defendant was an indirect aider and abettor of one of five “target crimes” under the natural and probable consequences doctrine.2 The trial court sentenced Amante to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On direct appeal, this court affirmed Amante’s conviction in a 2009 unpublished opinion, finding that there was sufficient evidence to support each defendant’s conviction under all three theories of murder advanced by the prosecution. (People v. Amante (Sept. 3,…