P. v. Silva
A jury convicted defendant, Keith Silva, of first degree murder (Pen.Code, § 187, subd. (a))[1] and torture (§ 209), both of which were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(C)). In connection with the murder, the jury further found that a principal had used a firearm, discharged a firearm and discharged a firearm causing death (§ 12022.53, subds. (b), (c), (d) & (e)(1)). In bifurcated proceedings, defendant admitted having suffered a strike prior. He was sentenced to prison for 75 years to life. He appeals, claiming the trial court erred in refusing to dismiss the jury venire, in denying his motion for a mistrial and in instructing the jury. We reject these contentions and affirm the judgment as it applies to them. The parties agree that our holding in People v. Beltran (Aug. 21, 2012, E053541 [nonpub. opn.] (Beltran)) constitutes the law of the case and, based on it, we reverse the gang true findings as to both offenses and the firearm true findings as to the murder. We also direct the trial court to correct errors in the abstract of judgment.
Facts[2]
“On April 4, 2003, defendant and his codefendant, both members and officers of a local chapter of the Vagos motorcycle club, participated, along with seven other members, in the beating of the victim, a club “hang-around,†because the latter owed money to one of the other members and had not returned a truck belonging to yet another. Then, defendant drove the bound victim, along with the codefendant, in his truck out to the desert where the victim was fatally shot.†(Beltran, supra, E053541, pp. 2-3.) Facts relating to the gang findings are described in Beltran. (Id. at pp. 3-6.)
Comments on P. v. Silva