People v. Quinarez CA2/8

Filed 8/24/23 P. v. Quinarez CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, B321649

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. KA113917) v.

JUAN CARLOS QUINAREZ,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Rob B. Villeza, Judge. Affirmed.

Emry J. Allen, 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, Kenneth C. Byrne and Allison H. Chung, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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In September 2020, we affirmed defendant and appellant Juan Carlos Quinarez’s conviction of murder and attempted murder. (People v. Lomeli (Sept. 22, 2020, B297259) [nonpub. opn.].) He now appeals from the denial of his petition for resentencing pursuant to Penal Code section 1172.6 (former § 1170.95). Shortly before this appeal was filed, former section 1170.95 was renumbered and recodified as section 1172.6 with no change in the text. (Stats. 2022, ch. 58, § 10.) For clarity, we refer to former section 1170.95 only by its new designation (§ 1172.6). We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In June 2016, A.M-L. and J.E. attended a birthday party for their friend, A.L. The other guests at the home were mostly A.L.’s family members, including his parents and his brother G.L. We refer to the victims by their initials to protect their privacy. (People v. Lomeli, supra, B297259.) Sometime after midnight, A.M–L. and J.E. decided to head home. They walked across the street to where J.E.’s car was parked and got in. Before they could pull away from the curb, an SUV pulled alongside them and stopped. A.L. and G.L. heard some sort of commotion and started walking toward where the cars were parked. (People v. Lomeli, supra, B297259.) Three people, two wearing hoodies and one wearing a hat, got out of the SUV and asked A.M–L. and J.E. where they were from. A.M–L. understood the question as asking whether they belonged to a gang. A.M–L. said they were from nowhere. J.E. got out of the car and exchanged words with the individuals and very quickly a physical altercation erupted between J.E. and one of the individuals from the SUV. J.E. looked like he needed help