P. v. Suarez
On May 15, 2006, Manuel Rodriguez was murdered as he walked to an ice cream truck with a friend. According to Jesus Flores, that same day, he received a telephone call from his ex-girlfriend Ruby Suarez, asking him to help her find her brother, Jose Suarez, because he might be in trouble. About an hour after the telephone call, Flores arrived at the Suarez residence where appellant, Juan Suarez, (hereinafter Suarez) lived with his wife Luz Suarez, and their three children, Ruby, Jose[1], and an 11-year-old-minor. Although Jose Suarez was eventually arrested for the first degree murder of Manual Rodriguez, Flores testified that before he arrived at the Suarez house, he was only told that Jose, a known gang member, might have done something wrong. According to Flores, Suarez, Luz, and Ruby were present in the house when he agreed to help Ruby look for her brother. Flores testified that he and Ruby located Jose with his friend Kandace Ortega in Buena Park and he took them to his house in Long Beach where they spent the night. The jury convicted Suarez of being an accessory to murder and acquitted Suarez of being an accessory for the benefit of, direction of, or in association with Joses street gang. Suarez was sentenced to prison and he contends his conviction as an accessory must be reversed because there is insufficient evidence corroborating the accomplices testimony to support the conviction.
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