In re Jacob Z. CA2/8

Filed 4/13/23 In re Jacob Z. CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

In re JACOB Z., a Person Coming B314600 Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Los Angeles County THE PEOPLE, Super. Ct. No. FJ56856) Plaintiff and Respondent, v.

JACOB Z., Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of wardship of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Robert J. Totten, Juvenile Court Referee. Affirmed. Steven A. Torres, 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, Idan Ivri and Gabriel Bradley, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. **********

Jacob Z. appeals from the adjudication of the juvenile court finding true the allegation he committed murder and declaring him a ward of the court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 602. Jacob contends the adjudication must be reversed, arguing the court committed evidentiary error by admitting hearsay gang evidence, the prosecutor committed error during closing argument by arguing facts outside the record, and cumulative error. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In December 2019, Jacob was 15 years old. He had been a member of a tagging crew and was recently associating with a criminal street gang called Varrio Nuevo Estrada (VNE). He convinced 13-year-old M.C. to lure Christian Medrano to the train tracks underneath the Cesar Chavez Avenue bridge on the afternoon of December 5, 2019. When M.C. and Medrano arrived at the appointed time, Jacob fatally shot Medrano in the head and then fled the scene with M.C. The People filed a petition pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 alleging Jacob had murdered Medrano (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)). The adjudication hearing began June 29, 2021, and lasted several days. M.C. testified pursuant to an immunity agreement with the prosecution in which she agreed to admit to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder, in exchange for a suitable placement, so long as she testified truthfully about the events surrounding Medrano’s murder. M.C. described how events involving Jacob, Jacob’s girlfriend Julie, Medrano, and M.F. (the older brother of a friend from school) led to Medrano’s murder. M.C. first met Medrano in the summer of 2019, a few months before his murder. He was in