California v. Landowski
Annotate this CaseDefendant Michael Reyes, Jr., an active Norteno gang member (from the Broderick Boys subset), confronted a former Norteno gang member (from the Franklin Boys subset), "S.," about a physical altercation that occurred between S. and Reyes’s stepfather over a debt. That earlier altercation had taken place in front of Reyes’s autistic younger brother. Reyes pulled out a handgun and asked S. if he had a problem. S., who was riding his bicycle with his wife, "R.," when Reyes confronted him with the gun, stopped briefly, told Reyes to put the gun down if he wanted to fight, and then started to ride away. This angered Reyes, prompting him to fire six rounds at S. from behind. S. Was hit but survived. R. Was a short distance in front of S., but was not hit. Defendants Liberty Landowski and Lisa Humble were with Reyes at the time of the shooting and aided in his efforts to avoid being apprehended by law enforcement authorities. Reyes, Landowski, and Humble were tried together before the same jury. Reyes was convicted of one count of attempted murder (Count 1), two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm (Counts 2 and 4), one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (Count 5), and one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon (Count 6). In addition to various firearm and other enhancements, the jury found Reyes committed the crimes for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in criminal conduct by gang members. The jury convicted Landowski and Humble of being accessories to Reyes’s criminal conduct (Count 9) and also found true gang enhancement allegations attached to that crime. Reyes challenged the sufficiency of the firearm evidence presented to support his conviction, and all defendants challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting their gang enhancements. The Court of Appeal determined Senate Bill 620 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.) gave the trial court discretion to strike firearm enhancements in the interest of justice and applied retroactively; and Senate Bill 136 (2019-2020 Reg. Sess.) eliminated such enhancements, and also applied retroactively. To these issues, the Court remanded for the trial court's consideration. The Court affirmed the trial court in all other respects.
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