Duran

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. The Underlying Murder

In 1984, Michael Duran (defendant) was a member of the El Monte Flores street gang who went by the moniker “Tiger” or “Tigre.” In the early morning hours of a Sunday in August 1984, a fight broke out between members of the El Monte Flores gang and its rival, the El Sereno gang. In retaliation, members of the El Monte Flores gang stormed a complex of apartments built around a courtyard. Defendant accompanied those gang members. While there, defendant grabbed James Torres (Torres) from behind, and took him to the ground. In the ensuing melee between Torres, defendant, and three other El Monte Flores gang members, Torres was punched, kicked, and repeatedly stabbed by two different knives. Torres sustained 20 stab wounds and died from those injuries.

II. Charging, Conviction and Sentencing

The People charged defendant and the three other El Monte Flores gang members in the melee with Torres’s murder (§ 187). The People further alleged that each of the defendants personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon (that is, a knife) (§ 12022, subd. (b)). The matter proceeded to a joint jury trial. Two percipient witnesses…