People v. Mota CA2/8

Filed 11/14/25 P. v. Mota CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B336098

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. VA156398 v.

IVAN JOSE MOTA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Joseph R. Porras, Judge. Affirmed. Sylvia W. Beckham, 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, Assistant Attorney General, Xiomara Costello and Stefanie Yee, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________

A jury convicted Ivan Mota of first degree murder and being a felon in possession of a gun. Mota argues this result must be reversed because the trial court erred by admitting his co-defendant’s statement as a declaration against penal interests under Evidence Code section 1230 (section 1230). We affirm. I Mota, Damian Leon, and Victor Alonso are all members of the Florencia 13 gang, known by the monikers Shadow, Terco, and Tokes or Toker, respectively. Gustavo Venegas was a member of the Pico Nuevo gang, known by the moniker Villian. Surveillance video from the Vagabond Inn in Whittier shows a light-colored Honda Accord pull into the parking lot a little after two o’clock one morning. A man later identified as Mota gets out and goes upstairs. The driver, Leon, pops the hood, and then moves the car a few spaces over. Mota comes back to the car with Alonso. Leon and Venegas leave the car and accompany Mota and Alonso back up to the room. About an hour later, Leon comes back to the car. A short while later, the other three men join him. Alonso returns to the room. Venegas and Mota both get in the backseat; Venegas on the driver’s side, and Mota on the passenger’s side. A few minutes after the car left the parking lot, gunshots woke Monica Carbone, a resident on California Street, less than a mile from the motel. Carbone looked out and saw a tan Honda passing on the street. She got back in bed, then heard a few more shots. Officer Tom Osendorf arrived at the scene a few minutes later. He found Venegas face down on the street. Venegas had gunshot wounds to his right cheek, the right side of his neck, and his forehead. The right cheek shot was fired from about half an