People v. Vasquez CA2/2

Filed 5/23/25 P. v. Vasquez CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO THE PEOPLE, B333708

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA448415) v.

SERGIO LESTER VASQUEZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Eleanor J. Hunter, Judge. Affirmed. Stephen M. Vasil, 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, Idan Ivri, Lauren N. Guber and Megan Moine, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________

A jury convicted Sergio Lester Vasquez of murder. He asserts evidentiary and instructional errors on appeal. Because there was no prejudicial error, we affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. Facts On the evening of July 10, 2016, appellant’s girlfriend Raquel Martinez (Martinez) drove with appellant, who is a member of the Temple Street gang, around the area of Rampart Boulevard and Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles—Temple Street gang territory. A group of people stood outside a nearby banquet hall, and this group included members of the rival 18th Street gang. Martinez parked her car down the street from the hall, and appellant got out of the car. He walked toward the group standing outside and yelled, “Puro 18,” to elicit a response and identify 18th Street gang members. Someone in the group responded, “18,” and another person working in concert with appellant (who police never identified) shot that man dead. II. Procedural Background The People charged appellant with six counts, four of which involved incidents unrelated to this appeal. In connection with the above incident, the People charged appellant with murder (Pen. Code,1 § 187, subd. (a)) and unlawful firearm activity (§ 29820, subd. (b)). As to the murder, the People further alleged that appellant personally and intentionally discharged a firearm (§ 12022.53, subd. (c)), causing death (id., subd. (d)), personally used a firearm (id., subd. (b)), and that he committed the murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(C)). The People later dropped the gang allegation.