>P. v. Lopez



















Filed
5/3/10 P. v. Lopez CA5



















NOT
TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for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

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT


>

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JOSEPH ENRIQUE LOPEZ, Defendant and Appellant.

F056776 (Super. Ct. No. F06906977) >OPINION

APPEAL from
a judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno
County. Gary Orozco, Judge.

Deborah L.
Hawkins, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Edmund G.
Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General,
Catherine Chatman and John G. McLean, Deputy Attorneys General, for Defendant
and Respondent.

-ooOoo-

Appellant Jose Enrique Lopez, Michelle
Molina, Rodger Alley, and Elbert Vargas (collectively, the defendants) were
charged with the murder (Pen. Code,^[1] § 187; count 1), rape (§ 261, subd.
(a)(1); count 2), attempted rape
(§§ 664, 261, subd. (a)(1); count 3), and false imprisonment (§ 236, subd.
(b); count 4) of Courtney Rice. Following a joint jury trial, appellant was
the only defendant to be convicted of first degree murder; Molina was convicted
of the lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter, and the jury deadlocked on
the murder count as to Alley and Vargas.
The jury further found appellant not guilty of rape but guilty of attempted rape and false imprisonment. In addition, the jury found a number of
special circumstance and sentence enhancement allegations to be true, including
that appellant intentionally killed Rice while he was an active participant in
a criminal street gang (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(22)), and that all the offenses
were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd.
(b)(1)). Appellant was sentenced, inter
alia, to a prison term of life without the possibility of parole. On appeal, appellant contends: (1) the trial court abused its discretion in
denying his posttrial motion for disclosure of confidential juror identifying
information;^[2] (2)
the jury instructions were so confusing they violated his due process and fair trial rights; and (3) insufficient evidence supports the gang enhancements and
special circumstance. We disagree with
appellant's contentions and affirm the judgment.

FACTS

On June 12, 2006, police were called to a tow yard in Fresno where the
body of 16-year-old Rice was discovered in the bed of a pickup truck. The decomposing body was found lying face
down, wrapped in a sleeping bag, plastic trash bags, and other materials. Rice's feet were handcuffed together and her
hands were handcuffed behind her back. Her
pants were lowered, exposing her buttocks.
There was black electrical tape tangled in her hair. The chief pathologist of the county coroner's
office opined the cause of death was â€