P. v. Mora

Filed 2/13/07  P. v. Mora CA2/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b).  This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

            APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County,

Gary E. Daigh, Judge.  Affirmed.

            Corinne S. Shulman, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

            Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Mary Jo Graves, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Victoria B. Wilson and Herbert S. Tetef, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

_________________________

            Ramon Ponciano Mora appeals the judgment entered following his conviction by jury of first degree murder committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang in which he personally discharged a firearm causing death.  (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 186.22, subd. (b)(1), 12022.53, subd. (d).)^[1]  The jury also convicted Mora of eight counts of attempted willful, deliberate and premeditated murder committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang in which he personally discharged a firearm causing death.  (§§ 664/187, 186.22, subd. (b)(1), 12022.53, subd. (d).)  The trial court sentenced Mora to a term of 370 years to life in state prison and ordered Mora to pay restitution to the family of the murder victim in the amount of $1,283,442. 

            We affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

            1.  The prosecution's evidence.

            In the early morning hours of Saturday, August 14, 2004, nine friends were playing poker in the garage of Jason and Darryl Shimada's home on Haigler Avenue in Carson.  In addition to the Shimada brothers, Chris Hinds, Douglas Raya, Andy Tangalin, Eric Ines, Keith Mossman, Kurt Nishimura and Alan Myagishima were present.  The garage door was open and the men were drinking soda and beer.  At approximately 1:00  a.m., 41-year-old Jason Shimada saw a light blue metallic colored car drive past the house.  It returned a few minutes later driving very slowly in the other direction and stopped in front of the garage with the passenger side closest to the house.  Jason heard two gunshots and listened for the sound of casings striking the street but heard none. 

One of the shots struck 44-year-old Chris Hinds in the head, causing his death at the scene.  Another shot struck Douglas Raya in the back.  Raya turned and saw an early to mid-80's Toyota Celica Supra occupied by one individual in the driver's seat.  The car made a loud noise as it accelerated from the scene, as if it had an exhaust leak. 

Keith Mossman also saw a light blue metallic car.  Daryl Shimada noticed the window of the car go down as it passed the garage and saw what appeared to be the barrel of a gun come out the passenger window of the vehicle but did not see anyone in the passenger seat.

At trial, Jason Shimada, Raya and Mossman identified a photograph of Mora's car as the one from which they had seen the shots fired. 

Jason Shimada testified neither he nor any of his friends were gang members. 

Approximately half an hour after the shooting, sheriff's deputies detained a blue Toyota Celica Supra being driven by Kevin Clark about one mile from the Shimada residence.  Numerous witnesses, including Jason and Daryl Shimada, were taken to the location of the vehicle.  The Shimada brothers testified the car was the same make and color as the car driven by the shooter but it was not the same car.

On August 16, 2004, Sheriff's Detective Mark Wedel saw Mora driving a silver-bluish Toyota Celica Supra.  Wedel and his partner waited outside the home of Mora's grandparents in Carson and, when Mora drove from the home in a van, uniformed officers stopped the van and searched it but did not arrest Mora.  During this detention, Mora admitted gang membership to a sergeant from the Carson gang team. 

            On August 20, 2004, sheriff's deputies searched Mora's residence on Mesa Drive in San Pedro and the home of his grandparents on Wall Street in Carson where Mora previously lived.  Mora was present at the San Pedro address when the deputies conducted the search.  At the San Pedro address, deputies found an Iver Johnson .22  caliber semiautomatic handgun outside Mora's open and unscreened bedroom window on top of a flower pot in plain view.  The weapon was accessible from the first floor window of Mora's bedroom.  Inside Mora's bedroom, deputies found a box of .22  caliber long rifle ammunition that had Mora's right thumb print on it.  In the rear hatchback area of a light blue 1984 Toyota Celica Supra parked outside the San Pedro residence, investigators found two expended .22 caliber casings.  Paperwork inside the vehicle included a school pass in Mora's name issued in May of 2004.  The exhaust of the car appeared to have a leak.  Gang graffiti at the Carson address included the name of Mora's gang.

            Following the search of the San Pedro residence, Mora was arrested.  In an interview conducted later that day by detectives, Mora said the Toyota parked outside the San Pedro residence was his, he did not allow anyone else to drive it and he had owned the car for only a few days.

            A firearm examiner determined the casings recovered from Mora's car and a bullet recovered from Raya's armpit had been fired from the Iver Johnson pistol found outside Mora's bedroom window.  The rifling characteristics on the bullet fragments taken from Hines's brain were consistent with the Iver Johnson pistol but had been too severely damaged to permit specific identification.

Approximately two months after the shooting, graffiti appeared on the Shimada home and the Mossman home across the street.  The graffiti on the Shimada home stated:  â€