People v. Rivera CA2/3

Filed 8/20/20 P. v. Rivera CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 THREE

THE PEOPLE, B297551

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA459245) v.

ALBERTO RAFAEL RIVERA,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Henry J. Hall, Judge. Affirmed. Christine M. Aros, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Noah P. Hill and John Yang, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ——————————

A jury found Alberto Rafael Rivera guilty of attempted murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle. On appeal, he contends there was insufficient evidence he either directly perpetrated the crimes or aided and abetted them. We disagree and affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND I. The attempted murder Rivera was jointly tried with fellow Easy Rider gang members Ronald Hernandez and Dario Alfaro for attempted murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle. Rivera’s gang moniker was Drowzy, Hernandez was known as both Stranger and Muerto, and Alfaro’s gang moniker was Lil Boy. The victim testified that on July 13, 2017, at 2:20 p.m., he was driving to a friend’s house. He was in the area of Washington Boulevard and Westmoreland in his Mustang when he heard someone yell. Assuming that someone he knew had called to him, he made a U-turn and stopped in front of an apartment building where three Hispanic men had been standing, two of whom the victim identified as Hernandez and Rivera. Hernandez and Rivera walked up to the victim, who said, “What’s up?” Hernandez and Rivera threw gang signs and replied, “Riders.” The victim did not associate with gangs, so he left. Hernandez then threw something at the victim’s car. Later, as the victim was taking a shortcut through a nearby car wash, he saw Hernandez and Rivera in a Mercedes. Hernandez was driving, and Rivera was the front passenger. The victim could not tell if anyone else was in the car. The Mercedes made a U-turn to follow the victim. The victim saw Rivera reach down towards his feet. As the Mercedes got closer, the victim