The People, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Daniel Nunez and William Tupua Satele, Defendants and Appellants

Summary

The court affirmed the murder convictions and death judgments but vacated the gang and firearm-use enhancement findings and one duplicative multiple-murder special-circumstance finding for each defendant. It held that the gang-enhancement instruction omitted required elements, that the resulting instructional error was prejudicial, and that the firearm findings could not stand because the jury may have relied on the invalid gang theory. The court rejected the remaining claims, including challenges to juror excusal, evidentiary rulings, prosecutorial argument, aiding-and-abetting instructions, lesser-offense instructions, and the penalty judgments.