People v. Smith CA2/5

Filed 12/28/23 P. v. Smith CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE

THE PEOPLE, B323968

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. TA152774) v.

DAZJOHIN RENE SMITH,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Laura R. Walton, Judge. Affirmed as modified. Susan Morrow Maxwell, 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, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Jason Tran, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Taylor Nguyen, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

A jury convicted defendant Dazjohin Smith (defendant) of conspiracy to commit murder, among other charges. The key evidence at trial was surveillance video footage that showed defendant as a passenger in a vehicle driven by someone else in the territory of a rival gang, the vehicle pausing after passing a parked car occupied by other men, and the vehicle then parking around the corner—whereupon defendant exits, walks back to the parked car, fires several gunshots at the occupants inside, and flees back to the waiting getaway vehicle. We are asked to decide whether the video footage combined with the other evidence admitted at trial is substantial evidence of an advance agreement to commit murder sufficient to support a conspiracy conviction.

I. BACKGROUND A. The Offense Conduct, as Established by the Evidence at Trial Brothers Raymond Carrizoza (Raymond) and Osvaldo Carrizoza (Osvaldo) were sitting in a car with three friends around 3:30 p.m. on February 3, 2019. It was Super Bowl Sunday, and the men were smoking marijuana before the game. They were parked on 152nd Street near the intersection with Dwight Avenue in Compton. Someone suddenly began firing gunshots at the car, and everyone but Raymond ducked—he had “nowhere to hide” in the rear middle seat. A bullet fragment lodged in Raymond’s forehead near the temple, but he was quickly taken to the hospital and survived. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies found six nine-millimeter shell casings at the scene.