People v. Ledezma CA2/6

Filed 10/27/14 P. v. Ledezma CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SIX

THE PEOPLE, 2d Crim. No. B249658 (Super. Ct. No. 2012035338) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Ventura County)

v.

MAXIMILIANO ADAM LEDEZMA,

Defendant and Appellant.

Maximiliano Adam Ledezma appeals a judgment following conviction of second degree robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon by means likely to produce great bodily injury, with findings that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm, carried the firearm within a vehicle, and committed the crimes to benefit a criminal street gang. (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 245, subd. (a)(1), 12022.53, subd. (c), 25850, subd. (a), 186.22, subd. (b)(1).)1 We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY During the afternoon of May 27, 2011, Chase Christensen, Ronald Allen, Ricky Garcia, and Jacqueline Ayala were "hanging out" and smoking marijuana at Grant Park in Ventura. After a while, Christensen decided to drive the group to the beach in his automobile.

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless stated otherwise.

As they prepared to leave, Allen noticed a vehicle stopping behind them. Garcia then saw that he had neglected to remove his blue Jansport backpack from the hood of the automobile. Garcia or another passenger asked Christensen to retrieve the backpack. Before Christensen could remove the backpack, however, Ledezma and another Hispanic man approached. Ledezma held a firearm, announced "Ventura Avenue, fool," and demanded that Christensen "empty out his pockets" and "give [Ledezma] [his] shit." Christensen replied, "If you are going to pull a gun on me, you better pull the trigger." Ledezma responded by pistol-whipping Christensen and then firing the firearm at the ground. The man accompanying Ledezma grabbed Garcia's backpack and both men fled toward the vehicle parked behind. The passengers in Christensen's automobile saw the attack, but could not identify Ledezma as the man who struck Christensen and demanded his money. Ayala recorded the acts with her cellular telephone but due to her position in the backseat, did not fully capture Ledezma's face. The prosecutor played the 30-second recording at trial. Christensen then drove to a fast-food restaurant where the group reported the crimes. Officer Jon Fournell interviewed Christensen and noted his forehead laceration. Christensen gave "very little description" of his assailant, stating that he preferred not to be "a rat." Officer Michael Gens drove to Grant Park and saw a "fresh disturbance" in the gravel where Ledezma fired the firearm, but did not find a firearm shell casing in the area. Officer Mark Knackstedt also responded to the police dispatch and stopped the driver of a gray-colored automobile leaving Grant Park at "a high rate of speed." Knackstedt recognized the driver of the automobile as Joseph Guinn, a member of a white supremacy criminal street gang who associated with the Ventura Avenue criminal street gang. Garcia's blue backpack lay on the back floor of the automobile, but the money that had been inside was missing. Ventura Detective Todd Hourigan viewed the video recording on Ayala's cellular telephone and studied the gunman's nose, right eye, and throat ("a large Adam's