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On June 26, 2008, Petitioner was convicted of attempted murder and assault with a firearm.
The jury further found true that: (1) Petitioner committed both crimes for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in criminal conduct by members of that gang; (2) in committing the attempted murder in association with gang members with the intent to assist criminal conduct by gang members, Petitioner vicariously discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury; and (3) in committing the attempted murder in association with gang members with the intent to assist criminal conduct by gang members, Petitioner vicariously discharged a firearm.
At the time this case arose, Petitioner was a 19-year-old postal worker who lived with his family in Fontana and had saved enough money 13 to buy a new Cadillac. Most weekends he visited his cousin and her sons in Long Beach, playing sports and video games with the boys. He had no criminal record and enjoyed a reputation for honesty, hard work and peacefulness.
But he also ran with a bad crowd. Many of his friends were members of the Naughty ‘n Nasty Crips (2N), an African-American gang in Long Beach. One day, Petitioner was in their company when they shot and wounded Miguel Perez. The primary issue at trial was whether Petitioner aided and abetted his buddies in carrying out a gang-related shooting, or, as Petitioner claimed, he was merely an unwitting witness to their crimes.
According to the prosecution’s evidence, the shooting stemmed from an earlier incident involving Perez, an associate of the Hispanic gang Evil Ways, and 14-year-old Jeremiah Webb, the younger brother of the 2N member Ezekiel “Zeke” Webb.
Taron Donnell Maddox, Petitioner v. Mike D McDonald, Warden, Respondent. United States District Court, Central District Of California. No. 8:2011cv00276. Document 14 (C.D. Cal. 2011).
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