People v. Bryant CA3

BACKGROUND

A. The underlying conviction For expediency, we will incorporate relevant information from the published opinion in defendant’s prior appeal, People v. Vasquez (2016) 246 Cal.App.4th 1019 (Vasquez): “Defendants Marquon Deanthony Vasquez and Shoreem Dominique Bryant were tried together in front of separate juries for murder and attempted murder with allegations these crimes were committed for the benefit of a street gang. Vasquez fatally shot Deandra Horton and wounded her companion, Tionee Duncan, who was confined to a wheelchair. Bryant had driven Vasquez to where the shooting took place and was also the getaway driver. The shooting was in retaliation for an altercation between Vasquez’s cousin (Kaveon Plummer-Lee) and one of Duncan’s friends (Marcus Lebeau). Bryant, Vasquez, and Plummer-Lee were members of the North Highlands Gangster Crips. Lebeau was a member of the rival Bloods. “The first jury found Vasquez guilty of second degree murder (a lesser included offense of the charged first degree murder) and attempted voluntary manslaughter (a lesser included offense of the charged attempted murder) and found not true the gang enhancements. The second jury found…