In re A.J. CA2/6

Filed 12/20/21 In re A.J. 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

IN RE A.J., a Person Coming 2d Juv. No. B311288 Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Super. Ct. No. FJ57240) (Los Angeles County) _____________________________

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

A.J.,

Defendant and Appellant.

A.J. appeals the juvenile court’s order sustaining a wardship petition charging him with assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(4); Welf. & Inst. Code, § 602). The court declared the offense a misdemeanor and placed appellant on six months of probation. Appellant contends the court committed reversible error in

declining to admit evidence of two videos purporting to show the assault victim engaging in prior fights. We affirm. STATEMENT OF FACTS On March 2, 2020, appellant and A.M. were students at Fairfax High School. Appellant and several other boys approached A.M. and asked him where he was from. Appellant replied that his parents were from Mexico and denied any gang affiliation. Appellant and his companions searched A.M. and his backpack, then left after a security guard saw them. The next day, A.M. was walking to class with a friend when they were approached by I.S., who had recently mocked and ridiculed appellant’s hairstyle. I.S. said a friend had told him that appellant wanted to fight him, and appellant denied that he wanted to do so. A.M. started to turn around and felt a hard punch to the back of his head. His vision went blurry but he was able to see that appellant was his assailant. Appellant, who is taller and bigger than A.M., repeatedly punched A.M. in the face, arms, and hands and “kneed” his lower body. A five-second cellphone video depicting part of the assault was played during the adjudication hearing. A.M., who presented the video to the court, that testified he never hit appellant back and “did not get up until I saw his friends pull him off of me.” A.M. also denied that he had or displayed a knife or other weapon during the altercation. He admitted that he had previously started two fights in school. While in middle school, he intervened to protect a female friend who was being inappropriately touched by a male classmate. In high school, he got into a fight after he was “cornered” and “asked to fight” by a group of students who “follow[ed him] every single day.”