P. v. Jones
A jury found defendant and appellant Joshua C. Jones guilty of first degree murder with gun and gang enhancements. The jury found his codefendant Luis Cortez guilty of second degree murder with gun and gang enhancements. On appeal, Jones contends that the trial court abused its discretion by denying his challenges for cause; that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance; that the true finding on the gang enhancement must be reversed; and that there was insufficient evidence of the gun-enhancement allegation.
Cortez separately contends that the trial court erred by denying his Penal Code section 1118.1[1] motion, brought on the ground there was insufficient evidence he aided and abetted the murder. Cortez also contends that the jury was misinstructed on aiding and abetting and that there was an error in the sentence imposed.
We hold that Jones’s and Cortez’s sentences must be corrected, but we otherwise affirm the judgment.
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