People v. Rivera

1

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JUAN CARLOS RIVERA, Defendant and Appellant.

G061635

California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Third Division

March 6, 2024

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, No. 96CF0802 Scott A. Steiner, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions.

James R. Bostwick, Jr., under appointment by the Court of Appeal for Defendant and Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Robin Urbanski and Minh U. Le, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

SANCHEZ, J.

Defendant Juan Carlos Rivera appeals from a postjudgment order denying his petition for resentencing made pursuant to Penal Code former section 1170.95 (now Pen. Code, § 1172.6).^[1] Rivera and four codefendants-Miguel Tapia Carlos Diaz, Guadalupe Vertiz, and Jorge Castro-were convicted in 1998 of second degree murder for the stabbing death of Cesar Arroyo. The trial court denied the petition after conducting a hearing under section 1172.6, subdivision (d).

We conclude the trial court erred by using an incorrect legal standard for determining Rivera's mens rea for aiding and abetting implied malice murder. We reverse with directions to grant the petition, rather than to direct a new evidentiary hearing, because under the correct legal standard substantial evidence would not support a finding that Rivera had the requisite mental state to be held liable for aiding and abetting the perpetrator in committing implied malice murder.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

I. The First Incident on the Day of the Murder

On March 14, 1996, at around 9:00 p.m., L.C., A.V., and several other friends left a quinceanera practice at a home on the corner of Wakeham and Oak Streets in Santa Ana. While they stood outside at the corner, a brown-colored car with four occupants approached them and stopped a couple of feet away. Both L.C. and A.V. identified Rivera as the front seat passenger of the car before and at trial.

Rivera and codefendants Tapia, Diaz, and Castro got out of the car at the same time. Rivera yelled "Lopers" and someone else said "Eastside." Rivera and his codefendants threw beer cans at L.C., A.V., and their friends. Rivera approached L.C. and spoke to him. L.C., A.V., and their friends backed away without responding to the taunts.

While Rivera was standing about 30 feet away, L.C. saw an object in Rivera's pocket with a shape resembling a knife. L.C. never saw Rivera remove that object from his pocket and saw no weapons. A.V. did not see Rivera in possession of any weapons. E.V. testified that, later that evening, L.C. told her Rivera had a knife that evening. L.C. denied telling E.V. Rivera had a knife.

At trial, A.V. testified one of the four men (possibly Diaz) came after him with a knife and tried to stab him in the stomach, but A.V. lifted his arm to block the stab and the attacker dropped the knife. A.V. then ran away. L.C. testified he did not see anyone get into a physical fight; he testified "there was no fight."

Rivera and the four codefendants went back to their car and drove off. After buying more beer, they went and picked up defendant Vertiz. After picking up Vertiz, defendants went to buy more beer.

II. The Beating and Murder of Arroyo

At 9:20 p.m. the same night, K.L., her boyfriend Cesar Arroyo, and her sister L.L. were walking northbound on Standard Street in Santa Ana on their way to the grocery store. A brown-colored car approached them from the opposite direction. As the car drove past, its five occupants stared at them. The car made a U-turn and pulled up beside K.L., Arroyo, and L.L. Rivera jumped out of the car and, with a beer can in his hand, asked Arroyo, "'Where you from?'" Arroyo responded, "'I don't claim.'" When Rivera asked him again, Arroyo insisted, "'Really, I don't claim.'" Rivera proclaimed, "'We're from Lopers,'" or "'big, bad Lopers'" and threw the beer can at Arroyo. K.L. interceded, and the beer can hit her on the head.

The other four defendants then jumped out of the car and, along with Rivera, started beating Arroyo. Arroyo, who was five feet five inches in height and weighed 131 pounds, did not fight back. One defendant was punching Aroyo in the stomach with his fist.

After a minute or two of being beaten, Arroyo fell to the ground against the fence. He tried to cover and protect himself while Rivera and his codefendants continued to hit and kick him. They continued to kick and hit Arroyo for five to six minutes as he lay on the ground.^[2] Tapia and Vertiz punched K.L. when she tried to pull them off of Arroyo.

At some point, Tapia stepped away and stood behind L.L. A few seconds later, three of the defendants got back into the car while another stood at the back of car and waited. Arroyo managed to stand up. One defendant, identified as wearing a blue shirt and dark, square pants, went up to Arroyo and pushed him in the chest. Arroyo started walking, then stumbled and fell to the ground.

The defendant who pushed Arroyo ran back to the car. Once all five were inside the car, they drove away.

L.L. went to seek help, and police officers arrived shortly thereafter. Arroyo had been stabbed several times and later died of his wounds.

The police officers took K.L. and L.L. to a liquor store where the officers had pulled over a car matching that of the defendants. Rivera and his four codefendants were inside the car. Rivera sat shirtless in the front passenger seat. A steak knife was found in the car's locked glove compartment. After defendant Castro was arrested, his home was searched and a knife was found underneath a mattress in the garage.

At trial, L.L. identified Rivera and all codefendants as participating in the attack on Arroyo. When asked how many of them struck Arroyo, L.L. testified, "The five of them." Neither K.L. nor L.L. saw any weapons or objects in the defendants' hands other than the beer can used by Rivera.

III. The Pathologist's Testimony

Joseph Halka, a pathologist for the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner, performed an autopsy on Arroyo's body. Halka testified that Arroyo died from exsanguination (he bled to death) caused by a stab wound to the heart and left lung.

Halka found a total of seven stab or slash wounds. Before Arroyo died, emergency surgery had been performed that altered "some of the contours" of the wounds. The wound to the heart was caused by a knife with a "two-edged configuration," meaning it was sharp on both edges or sides. A stab wound to Arroyo's left kidney was potentially fatal and also appeared to have been caused by a "two-edged configuration" knife. The remaining knife wounds, including defensive slash and "punctate" wounds, were nonfatal and could have been caused by either a two-edged knife or a one-edged knife. Arroyo also had bruises and contusions on his body.

IV. Tapia's Police Interview and Testimony

Police investigators interviewed Tapia early on March 15, 1996. Tapia admitted he and his fellow gang members had attacked Arroyo but repeatedly denied having used a weapon. Tapia told the investigators that, before the attack, "'the other guys said, "watch that guy,"'" with reference to Arroyo. Diaz (the driver) stopped the car, everyone got out, and they started fighting Arroyo. When asked why Tapia was fighting Arroyo, Tapia responded, "'But was very-if you see him in the street like that, you're going to figure he's a gang member, and you're going to stop him, and you're going to say hey, you understand me?'" Tapia claimed he did not have any weapons and he did not stab Arroyo.

At trial, Tapia testified he had stabbed Arroyo and lied to police when he was arrested. He testified he had a knife in his pocket which he had obtained from work at a Del Taco, where he used it to cut up boxes.^[3] The knife was "straight" (as opposed to being a folding knife), had a three-inch blade and a three-inch handle, and was sharp on both edges. He did not have a sheath or pouch for the knife but on March 14, 1996, he was wearing oversized pants with huge pockets which could accommodate the knife. Tapia testified he had forgotten about the knife when he left work at 4:00 p.m.

Tapia testified that he and his codefendants did not have any discussion about getting into a fight. Tapia had been drinking earlier that night and was drunk. Tapia claimed that as the five drove past Arroyo he screamed "Little Minnie Locotes" and lifted his hand with five fingers outstretched at a 45-degree angle. The car made a U-turn. All five got out of the car and attacked Arroyo. Tapia took out the knife and stabbed Arroyo. Tapia remembered stabbing Arroyo a few times. Tapia did not remember how it happened because he was drunk and did not recall why he stabbed Arroyo. When he realized he was stabbing Arroyo with a knife, Tapia got scared and ran back to the car. He did not think he had seriously injured Arroyo because Arroyo was still standing and walking.

According to Tapia, he and his codefendants got back into the car and drove off. They returned to the place where they had attacked Arroyo and saw an ambulance there. They next drove to a liquor store to buy more beer. Soon thereafter, they were stopped by police officers and arrested.

At first, Tapia claimed he could not remember what he did with the knife. He then testified that he had tossed the knife out of the driver's side window while on the way to the liquor store. Tapia claimed none of his codefendants knew he had a knife, that he had stabbed Arroyo, or that he had tossed the knife out the window.

Regarding the earlier confrontation with L.C. and A.V.'s group Tapia claimed he, Rivera, Diaz, Castro,...