P. v. Romero
A jury convicted defendant Michael Rene Romero of attempted murder, mayhem, attempted robbery, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, and criminal street gang activity. The jury also found true various enhancement allegations, such as that defendant committed particular offenses for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
Defendant now contends (1) the trial court erred in admitting -- pursuant to the adoptive admission exception to the hearsay rule -- incriminating statements made by defendant’s cohort, because there was no evidence that defendant heard and adopted the statements; (2) the trial court violated defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confrontation when it admitted a witness’s statement that defendant and his cohort said the “Red Nose Pittz†gang was “about beating people upâ€; (3) the trial court erred in admitting letters attributed to defendant because the letters were not authenticated; (4) the trial court erred in instructing the jury that a person is “equally guilty†of a crime whether he or she committed it personally or acted as an aider and abettor; and (5) there is insufficient evidence that defendant committed the offenses to benefit a criminal street gang.
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