P. v. Ponce CA4/1
Defendant Mario Ponce was charged with conspiracy to commit murder (Pen. Code, §§ 182, subd. (a)(1), 187, subd. (a)) and first degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)), with the special-circumstance allegation that the murder occurred during the commission of a kidnapping (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(B)). The prosecution theory was that Ponce conspired in 2007 to murder Jose Fierro in revenge for his killing of Ponce's friend in 2005 during a cartel-related drug deal gone bad. The plan was bungled, and Jose's brother, Armando, was inadvertently kidnapped, then murdered.
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