PEOPLE v. JOSE GONZALEZ
Filed 6/12/06
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
)
v. )
Defendant and Appellant. ) Super. Ct. No. GA029611-01
__________ )
A jury convicted defendant Jose Gonzalez of the first degree murders of Jose Albert Rodriguez and Hector Ricardo Gonzalez Martinez and of being a felon in possession of a firearm. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 12021, subd. (a)(1).)[1] It found true the special circumstance of multiple murder and that defendant personally used a firearm in the commission of the murders. (§§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3), 12022.5, subd. (a).) That jury was unable to reach a penalty verdict. After a penalty retrial, a second jury returned a verdict of death. The court denied the automatic motion to modify the verdict (§ 190.4) and sentenced defendant to death. This appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) We affirm defendant's convictions and the special circumstance finding but reverse the death sentence.
I. The Facts
A. Guilt Phase
1. Prosecution Evidence
During the evening of June 17, 1996, seven men--Jose Gutierrez, Juan Pablo Rocha, brothers Mario, Juan, and Oracio Jimenez, and victims Jose Albert Rodriguez and Hector Ricardo Gonzalez Martinez--were working on a car in the driveway of the Jimenez brothers' house at 835 North Cordova Avenue, in an area of East Los Angeles that the Lopez Maravilla street gang claimed as its home â€
