P. v. Cadena
A jury convicted Feliciano Cadena of two counts of attempted first degree murder (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a), 664; all further unlabeled statutory references are to the Penal Code), unlawful possession of a firearm as a felon ( 12021, subd. (a)), and active participation in a criminal street gang ( 186.22, subd. (a)). The jury also found to be true allegations that defendant personally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury on one attempted murder count and, on the other, that defendant personally discharged a firearm. ( 12022.53, subds. (c) & (d).) The jury rejected allegations that defendant committed the attempted murders and firearm possession for the benefit of a criminal street gang. ( 186.22, subd. (b).) After the trial court found in a bifurcated proceeding that defendant had served a prior prison term and suffered a prior serious felony conviction ( 667, subds. (b) & (e)(1)), the trial court sentenced defendant to 73 years to life in prison.
Defendant contends the trial court erred in rejecting his pretrial motion to sever the active gang participation count for a separate trial and to bifurcate the gang enhancements from their underlying charges, i.e., the attempted murder and firearm possession counts. He also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jurys conclusion he was the individual who attempted to shoot the victims. He further argues the trial court erred in (1) allowing the prosecutions gang expert witness to rely on letters he purportedly wrote to his brother from prison, (2) rejecting a pinpoint jury instruction on his claim another person was the shooter, and (3) imposing a court security fee of $80 $20 for each of the four counts on which he was convicted. As we explain below, defendants claims furnish no basis for reversal, and we therefore affirm the judgment.
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