People v. Chavez CA2/8

Filed 4/4/25 P. v. Chavez CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B335949

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. PA068853 v.

GEORGE ALFONSO CHAVEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Hayden A. Zacky, Judge. Affirmed and remanded with instructions. Jonathan E. Demson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Scott A. Taryle and Chung L. Mar, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________

George Chavez pleaded no contest to counts of involuntary manslaughter and attempted murder and admitted allegations of personal use of a firearm and committing a felony while on bail. Chavez filed a petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6. The trial court found Chavez had not made a prima facie case for eligibility because he was the actual shooter. After briefing in this case, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in People v. Patton (2025) 17 Cal.5th 549 (Patton). In light of Patton, we remand and instruct the trial court to consider an amended petition if Chavez files one within 30 days of the remand. Statutory citations are to the Penal Code. We take our factual account of the crime from the testimony during the preliminary hearing. Joel Garcia hired Hector Flores to deejay Garcia’s younger sister’s birthday. The party was at Garcia’s house. Flores brought his friend Francisco Leon to help him deejay. In the early morning hours after the party had died down, a small group of people was hanging out in a covered patio in front of the house: Garcia, Leon, Flores, and Garcia’s cousin Adriana Cardenas. Cardenas saw a light colored sedan pull into the driveway. It paused for a few minutes, then turned and pulled out. Cardenas could not see if anyone besides the driver was in the car because of the bright headlights. About 15 minutes later, Cardenas saw a man walk up the driveway and stop about 15 feet from the group. He shouted, “Where you from?” Flores responded that they did not bang. The man then yelled, “It’s all about Humphrey Boys!,” pulled out a gun, shot once into the air, and then shot several times at the group on the patio. A bullet hit and killed Leon.