Supreme Court of California

Convictions of defendants for sexual assault and gang related offenses are affirmed where: 1) the substantive offense defined by Penal Code section 186.22(a), which punishes "any person who actively participates in any criminal street gang with knowledge that its members engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity, and who willfully promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by members of that gang," does not include an unwritten requirement that the "felonious criminal conduct" that is promoted, furthered, or assisted be gang related; 2) the offenses were committed for the benefit of and in association with the gang; and 3) in accordance with the plain language of the enhancement, the scienter element of the enhancement requires only the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal conduct by gang members.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/20/2010
• Published 12/20/2010

Judges

• BAXTER

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Vanessa Place, Edmund G. Brown, Jr.