People v. Chiaia CA2/6

FACTS

On May 25, 1993, Chiaia, then 18 years old, and his friends Chad L., then 14, and Robert C., then 14, were “hanging out” together. “One of them, apparently [Chiaia], suggested that they beat up somebody for something to do.” They went to a park where homeless people often sleep at night, and they spotted “Louis Altmark, 58, lying on a bench.” Chiaia approached Altmark and hit his forehead. Altmark stood up, “at which time the three young men hit him, possibly twenty times.” Altmark did not fight back, he “merely shielded himself” from the attack. The three young men left. They walked around the park and ended up where Altmark was again lying on a bench. Altmark saw the young men. He jumped up and ran. Chiaia ran after him and “tackled him to the ground.” Robert C. and Chad L. “started kicking Altmark in the ribs.” Chiaia hit and kicked Altmark in the head and ribs. Altmark made “a snoring sound which appeared to indicate that [he] was unconscious.” Robert C. “rifled through” Altmark’s backpack “for drugs or money.” “After removing a cigarette lighter, he threw the things in the pond to dispose of fingerprints.” The three of them headed for Chad L.’s house, but they turned…