People v. Lopez CA4/2

I. BACKGROUND

Late into the evening on August 6, 2016, and continuing after midnight, 22-year-

old Adrian Valdez, along with a group of family and friends, gathered outside in front of

2 his family’s house in Indio. The house is within territory claimed by the criminal street 1 gang North Side Indio (NSI), and there was NSI graffiti on the house’s front curb. There

is some evidence that Valdez was an NSI member, though there is also some evidence to

the contrary. There is a long history of violence between NSI and Jackson Terrace (JT),

another criminal street gang that claims territory in Indio. In 2014, a JT member named

Julian “JJ” Palomino was murdered by an NSI member. In 2016, about two weeks before

the events in this case, Palomino’s uncle, George Pacheco, was also murdered. Although

Pacheco was not gang-affiliated, his murder was apparently gang-motivated; the

murderer profanely denounced JT and proclaimed “This is North side” or “This is North

Side Indio” before shooting him. It is undisputed that Monzon is a JT member. Lopez

and Armendariz are not JT members, but Lopez is Palomino’s cousin, and Armendariz is 2 Lopez’s cousin. Malanche is not a member of JT,…