People v. Gibson

1

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. NAJEON SAMUEL GIBSON, Defendant and Appellant.

B324714

California Court of Appeals, Second District, Seventh Division

February 20, 2024

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County No. TA153535, Kelvin D. Filer, Judge. Affirmed.

Theresa Osterman Stevenson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Noah P. Hill and Stephanie A. Miyoshi Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

FEUER J.

Najeon Samuel Gibson appeals from a judgment of conviction after the jury found him guilty of first degree murder, attempted willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder, and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a December 10, 2020 shooting of rival gang members. On appeal, Gibson contends the trial court abused its discretion and violated his rights to due process and a fair trial by admitting evidence of a gang-related homicide committed on December 9 by Gibson's gang, in which Gibson was not involved. He also contends there was not substantial evidence to support the convictions; the court erred in instructing the jury with a modified version of CALCRIM No. 375 on other acts evidence and CALCRIM No. 372 on flight; and the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for new trial. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The Evidence at Trial

1. The gang expert testimony

Los Angeles Police Officer Andres Fernandez, who monitored the East Coast Crip criminal street gang for five years, testified as the prosecution's gang expert. Officer Fernandez estimated the East Coast Crips had more than 800 members, divided among 13 "sets,"^[1] including the 6-Deuce, 6-6 and 6-9 sets. The East Coast Crips' rivals included, among others, the Family Swan Bloods.

Officer Fernandez opined Gibson, his brother Mario Gibson,^[2] and Brandon Brown were part of the 6-9 East Coast Crips. He based his opinion on his contacts with them, their selfadmissions, their gang tattoos, their frequent association "with other members at specific gang locations," and social media pictures. Navonn Woodson and Richard Perry, who were involved in the December 9 shooting, were members of the 6-Deuce and 6-6 East Coast Crips, respectively. According to Officer Fernandez, the area of 62nd and San Pedro Streets (62nd Street location) was "a stronghold or a known gang hangout for the East Coast Crips, primarily the 6-Deuce East Coast Crips." In addition, a house located on West 70th Street (70th Street location) was "a known stronghold for the East Coast Crips, primarily the 6-9's."

Officer Fernandez testified the gangs had a hierarchy: associates were at the bottom; next were "new booties," or "young bucks, the foot soldiers"; above them were the "soldiers or actual shooters"; and at the top were "the seniors or the shot-callers." A gang member who wanted to rise in the hierarchy would put in work by committing crimes, including vandalism, murder, burglary, and robbery. Officer Fernandez testified that killing a rival gang member "would give you a huge bump up in seniority as well as respect, especially if you do it more than once." Further, "there is more value in going to a rival territory and committing a crime than sitting back and defending your own hood."

2. The December 9, 2020 shooting of Wofford

At 5:56 p.m. on December 9, 2020 Tyrone Wofford, a Family Swan Blood gang member, was shot in front of an apartment building on East 91st Street (the 91st Street building), which was a Family Swan Blood hangout. Wofford was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Los Angeles Police Detective Jocelyn Baguinat was assigned to investigate the homicide. Detective Baguinat reviewed surveillance videos of the night of the shooting taken from the security cameras on the front of the 91st Street building and two nearby residences.^[3] One video showed a sedan and an SUV drive to East 91st Street and continue down the street. Then three individuals walked toward the 91st Street building. They "create[d] a firing line and then [started] shooting toward the direction of where the victims were standing." Another surveillance video showed "three individuals running away westbound on 91st Street," with "the last individual from the group running away, shooting a couple of times towards the apartment building."

Detective Baguinat viewed surveillance videos from other locations and determined that the sedan and SUV drove to the 62nd Street location after the shooting. Detective Baguinat and Officer Fernandez also viewed surveillance videos from cameras in the 62nd Street area taken from approximately 3:30 p.m. to approximately 11:00 p.m. on December 9. One video showed that at 3:51 p.m. Gibson, dressed all in blue, double-parked his blue Audi at the 62nd Street location. Gibson exited his vehicle and spoke with several individuals, including Woodson and Perry. Gibson left the location in his blue Audi at approximately 4:46 p.m.

At 5:41 p.m. several individuals took the back license plate off a blue sedan that was double-parked in front of the entrance to a car wash on 62nd Street. Woodson then got into the driver's seat and Brown got into the front passenger seat. Perry got into the front passenger's seat of a black SUV that was registered to him as the owner. At 5:44 p.m. the blue sedan and black SUV left the 62nd Street location (12 minutes before the Wofford shooting). Based on the surveillance videos, Detective Banguinat identified Brown, Perry, and Woodson as the East Coast Crip gang members involved in the Wofford shooting.

Perry testified he was a former East Coast Crip gang member from the 6-6 set.^[4] Perry identified Gibson and Mario as members of the East Coast Crips. Perry knew Gibson as "Young Snoop" or "Young Snoopy" and Mario as "Eastwood." On the afternoon of December 9, 2020 Perry went to the 62nd Street location to get his black SUV washed and to hang out. "Little Habit," an East Coast Crip, told Perry about a party, and Perry agreed to attend along with another gang member, "Infant Shorty." Perry had a suspended license, so he asked Little Habit to drive his vehicle. Little Habit drove the black SUV onto 91st Street and parked the vehicle in front of a store. Perry heard gunshots and "slouched in [his] seat." Little Habit then drove back to the 62nd Street location. As they were driving back, Perry noticed another car turned with them onto 62nd Street. Perry testified he did not realize he was involved in a shooting until he was pulled over by police and told his vehicle had been used in a homicide. Perry denied Gibson or Mario had any involvement in the December 9 shooting.

3. The December 10, 2020 shooting

On the night of December 10, 2020, the Family Swan Bloods held a candlelight vigil for Wofford on the driveway of the 91st Street building. At approximately 11:45 p.m. Nathaniel Caldwell, a Family Swan Blood gang member, stopped by the Wofford vigil for five to 10 minutes. Caldwell was hit by a gunshot, and he drove himself to the hospital where he was released later that night.

Shortly after 11:45 p.m. Los Angeles Police Officer Mitchell Woods arrived at the scene in response to a call about a shooting. Officer Woods found Ayana Treadway, a Family Swan Blood gang member, lying face down in the middle of the driveway of the 91st Street building. Treadway was shot in the back, and the gunshot perforated her heart and right lung. Treadway was taken to the hospital, where she died.

Officer Woods assisted in canvassing the scene for evidence. He saw approximately 50 to 60 spent shell casings on the street and sidewalk. He also recovered a key ring at the scene containing an Audi key and one or more house keys. He noticed the keys after another police officer kicked them. Officer Woods did not use gloves when he picked up the keys from the ground because he believed the keys had been discarded by one of the Family Swan Blood gang members who was arrested at the vigil earlier and who might have stored an illegal firearm in a vehicle.

Officer Woods "walked up and down the street, pressing the unlock button, attempting to locate the vehicle," but he was unsuccessful. He turned the keys over to another police officer. Police officers at the scene collected 58 shell casings and 11 bullet fragments.

4. The investigation of the December 10 shooting

Los Angeles Police Detectives Nancy Johnson and Gregg Fischer were assigned to investigate the December 10 shooting. The detectives did not locate any eyewitnesses to the shooting (other than Caldwell, who was shot). However, Detective Johnson obtained surveillance videos for the night of December 10 from about 20 cameras with different angles. Surveillance footage from a house near the 91st Street building showed "a smaller SUV that was followed by a dark colored four-door sedan." Detective Johnson used surveillance videos to track the two vehicles before and after the shooting to the 70th Street location, which was a 6-9 East Coast Crips hangout.

A surveillance video from a location across the street from the 70th Street location taken before the shooting showed an SUV (which another video showed was red) backing into a driveway and an Audi SUV pulling forward to park behind it. The detectives determined from the time stamp that the video was taken a few minutes after 11:00 p.m. Multiple individuals congregated around the driveway. A man then entered the driver's seat of the black sedan that was later used in the shooting; the sedan was parked on 70th Street. The Audi SUV reversed out of the driveway and collided with...