People v. Fernandez

• Decision Date: 16 November 2021
• Docket Number: E071837
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ADRIAN MARIA FERNANDEZ et al., Defendants and Appellants.

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ADRIAN MARIA FERNANDEZ et al., Defendants and Appellants.

E071837

California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Second Division

November 16, 2021

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County No. RIF1309149. Ronald L. Taylor, Judge. (Retired judge of the Riverside Super Ct. assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to art. VI § 6 of the Cal. Const.) Affirmed with directions as to Fernandez; affirmed in part as modified and reversed in part with directions as to Martinez.

Richard A. Levy, under appointment by the Court of Appeal for Defendant and Appellant, Adrian Fernandez.

Christian C. Buckley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant, Enrique Martinez.

Xavier Becerra and Rob Bonta, Attorneys General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, A. Natasha Cortina and Lynne G. McGinnis, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

SLOUGH J.

Appellant Adrian Fernandez owed a substantial amount of money to Sergio Lopez, which he couldn't pay. The money related to narcotics and cash the police had seized from an employee of Fernandez. Eventually, Lopez told Fernandez he would harm his family if he didn't make him whole.

Fernandez sought the help of appellant Enrique Martinez, Martinez's brother, and a third man named Jorge to kill Lopez. Jorge contacted Lopez and lured him from Northern California to Riverside County on the false promise of payment. Lopez and a friend drove to Riverside County, where they followed directions communicated by text and phone. The witness accounts differ on the details, but after Jorge had them relocate several times, Lopez and his friend figured out what was going on and fled in their car. Jorge pursued them in his car, and Martinez and his brother pursued in a second vehicle. All three shot at Lopez and his friend, and the pursuit led to a car crash. Lopez's friend escaped on foot, though he suffered a gunshot wound. Lopez wasn't so lucky; Martinez and his brother grabbed him, put him in their vehicle, and drove off. Fernandez was in the vicinity on a motorcycle during these events. Days later, police found Lopez's body with two gunshot wounds to the head dumped in a remote area. They also found Martinez's vehicle, with Lopez's blood in the back seat, abandoned in San Diego County.

Prosecutors tried Fernandez and Martinez together, and a jury convicted them- partially on the testimony of one of their accomplices-of murder, attempted murder, and kidnapping and found true special circumstances-that the murder was committed by means of lying in wait and by kidnapping-warranting increased punishment.

Appellants challenge the prosecution's reliance on uncorroborated accomplice testimony, certain evidentiary rulings of the trial judge, the sufficiency of the evidence absent the challenged evidence, as well as the trial judge's jury instructions and sentencing decisions. We conclude the accomplice testimony was sufficiently corroborated, there was no evidentiary or instructional error, and substantial evidence supports the verdicts. However, the People concede the matter should be remanded to correct certain sentencing errors, and to allow amendments to the abstracts of judgment, and we agree. We therefore reverse and remand on those limited sentencing issues, but otherwise affirm the judgments.

I FACTS

A. The Conspiracy

Adrian Fernandez owned a landscaping business in Washington state, where he also sold illegal drugs, which he obtained from contacts in San Bernardino. In the drug trade, Fernandez worked for Sergio Lopez Fernandez, the murder victim in this case, who was a member of a Mexican cartel. We refer to the victim by the name Lopez.

Martinez and Jorge^[1] were low-level drug dealers who lived in Moreno Valley. Martinez worked for Fernandez. Jorge was a salesman at a shoe store in a mall where Martinez worked as a security guard. After they met and became friends, Martinez tried to get Jorge to sell drugs for him. Jorge resisted at first, but eventually arranged for Martinez to sell him methamphetamine on credit. Jorge would use a portion of the drug himself and resell the rest to fund his own habit. Martinez introduced Jorge to Fernandez. Eventually, Fernandez invited Jorge to move into his home, which enmeshed him further in the drug trade.

In June 2013, Fernandez asked another subordinate, Luis, to drive to Washington state and pick up some items. Fernandez's wife, Cecilia, rented a car, and Fernandez gave it to Luis. While Luis was in Washington, the car was loaded with items which Luis was expected to deliver to Fernandez. Luis testified that he was acting on behalf of Fernandez in making the pickup.

While Luis was driving back, but still in Washington, a highway patrol officer stopped him, seized all of the items in the car, and arrested him. The seizure netted about 925 grams of methamphetamine, $17, 000 in cash, nine firearms, and over 1000 rounds of ammunition, all of which had been secreted away in the car. The total amount of the loss was around $60, 000.

When he found out about the seizure, Lopez texted Fernandez and suggested he would harm his family if Fernandez didn't repay the $60, 000. Either Fernandez or his wife answered the texts claiming Fernandez was in custody and couldn't do anything about the debt. Lopez responded, "Look Mrs. or lady, I don't believe that it's true what my cousin is saying that he is or where he's at. I know because you are not good at lying. The thing is that he pretended like he was detained so I don't go out looking for him. What a shame. I'm a good person but not a fool. No, lady. I'm sorry if I am mistaken, but that's what I believe." "Please make him rethink. Tell him to answer me, please. What he's doing, it's grave. I want him to face me."

On August 3, Lopez sent several texts, including, "He's not answering me. I am calling him" and "I apologize for bothering you, lady . . . I'm ashamed with you. I know I've been bothering you and it's not your fault about what's happening. But I also don't expect you to understand me." Cecilia responded, "Listen to me. You were calling my son on my husband's phone. If you don't want to believe me, then you can come and look for him yourself.... As to my family's-my husband's fucking family, I don't care now.... I don't give a fuck about you and F your fucking family, and I'm going to give the police all the numbers that I found on this fucking phone because I have kids. . . And I'm tired of being harassed."

In response, Fernandez and his associates came up with a plan to kill Lopez. Much of the direct evidence regarding these incidents comes from Jorge, who was an accomplice of appellants, and from Lopez's friend, Luis Rodriguez, who was in the car with Lopez when the plan came to fruition. Because Jorge was an accomplice who faced legal jeopardy for the same crimes, his testimony requires some measure of corroboration, so we note his statements explicitly. Though Rodriguez was not an accomplice, and he witnessed these events, he didn't positively identify appellants.

Jorge testified he talked several times with Fernandez, Martinez, and Martinez's brother Rolando to discuss how to carry out the killing. Fernandez said he wanted to act before Lopez tried to follow through with his threats. They agreed "[t]he guy was going to get whacked." According to Jorge, Fernandez told Martinez he would be paid $30, 000 or $35, 000 if he helped Fernandez with the hit, and Martinez agreed. Jorge said he offered to help. Together they planned to lure Lopez to Riverside County on the promise Fernandez would pay him. When he arrived, Martinez would kill Lopez instead.

B. The Shootout

According to Jorge, on the night of August 10, 2013, Fernandez gave him a phone to use when communicating with Lopez. Jorge texted Lopez to say Fernandez was in jail, but that if Lopez came to Moreno Valley, they would pay him. According to Rodriguez, Lopez was already planning to go to Mexico around the same time and had asked Rodriguez to drive him to Tijuana and in return agreed he would let Rodriguez use his green Toyota Camry while he was away.

Jorge texted Lopez on the morning of August 11 to arrange a meeting place. Rodriguez said he and Lopez headed south that morning, and at some point Lopez told him he needed to stop to pick up some money. Rodriguez said someone gave directions to Lopez by text message, and Lopez told him where to go. When Rodriguez got to Riverside County, Lopez had him get off the freeway and drive to a house. After they received another text message, Rodriguez kept driving and stopped at a gas station. Lopez then received a message saying it was going to take a while to get the money, so the two went to a restaurant to get something to eat.

Jorge said he returned to Martinez's house, where the others were waiting, and told them Lopez had arrived in town with another man. Fernandez instructed Jorge to drive to a certain gas station and minimart. Martinez and Rolando drove there in Martinez's black Jeep Cherokee. Jorge had a .22-caliber handgun which Fernandez had given him, Martinez had a nine-millimeter semiautomatic handgun, and Rolando also had a gun. Jorge said he then coordinated the meeting at the minimart.

When Lopez and Rodriguez arrived, Jorge drove over to them, got out of his car (a Charger), and told Lopez the money would be there shortly. Martinez and Rolando parked their Jeep at the gas pumps right behind the other two cars. Jorge said he and Martinez then went into the minimart, while Rolando stayed with the Jeep by the pumps. According to Jorge, while they were inside, Martinez tried to get him...