A panel of Fourth District Court of Appeal justices have reversed first-degree murder convictions of two men involved in a gang-related shooting at a Santa Ana restaurant, according to court records obtained Wednesday.
Ivan Derek Castaneda, 25, and Jesus Valdivia Cruz, 40, were convicted of murdering 22-year-old Jose Miguel Quiroz and the attempted murder of his then-20-year-old cousin, David Quiroz. They were both sentenced to 82 years to life in prison.
Castaneda and Cruz were convicted under the legal theory of aiding and abetting the killing and attempted killing. The justices ruled that the men should have been convicted of murder and attempted murder in the second degree instead.
The justices cited a state Supreme Court ruling that held “an aider and abettor’s liability for premeditated first-degree murder must be based on direct aiding and abetting principles.”
Instead, the evidence showed the two acted in a way that was likely, not certain, to result in a murder, the justices held.
The justices ruled prosecutors could just accept the second-degree murder and attempted murder convictions and have the defendants re-sentenced to lesser punishment, or they could pursue another trial for first-degree murder and attempted murder under a different legal theory.
The victims were shot at the Taqueria De Anda restaurant on July 25, 2010, where they went to continue celebrating a wedding they attended earlier in the evening.
As they got out of the cars they arrived in, Castaneda and Cruz, who were drunk, made gang signs at the wedding guests and then issued a challenge asking them which gang they were affiliated with, according to the justices.
“Someone from among the wedding guests replied, ‘We just want to eat tacos. We don’t want any problems,’ ” the justices wrote in the opinion.
The gang members told the wedding party they could not eat at that restaurant, so the group was preparing to leave to avoid trouble when a ruckus broke out, according to the justices.
Castaneda shouted for help from other allies and then opened the door of one vehicle and punched David Quiroz, prompting the victim to fight back and knock Castaneda to the ground.
More people joined the fray with Miguel Quiroz and another man kicking Castaneda when he tried to get up.
Castaneda’s reinforcements, including a gunman, arrived and David Quiroz was shot in the stomach. The gunman then opened fire on Jose Quiroz, killing him.
— City News Service