People v. Barajas CA2/6

STATEMENT OF FACTS

In 2007 or early 2008, victim Jennifer Ortega became romantically involved with Jaime Flores, a former member of the Villa Boys gang in Pasadena. Flores left the gang after he was sentenced to prison in 2006. Following his release from prison, he met Ortega and they began spending time together, having sex, and using drugs. On April 16, 2008, Ortega and Rudy Martinez, a Pacoima gang member who was on parole, were arrested for possessing methamphetamine. Ortega initially acknowledged that the drugs she had been seen discarding were hers, but later told the police the drugs belonged to Martinez. On August 7, Villa Boys member Eddie Solario sent a letter from prison to gang associate Debbie Garcia. The letter stated that a fellow prisoner had “paperwork” indicating that Ortega had blamed him for drugs found in her possession. Solario told Garcia that Ortega “knows you’re not supposed to talk to cops. Now she has to live with that for the rest of her life. Don’t forget to tell all them youngsters that. That way they don’t make that mistake.” In a letter dated August 17 that was never sent,

2 Because we are reversing the firearm enhancement, appellant’s claim…