People v. Modiri

Opinion

BAXTER, J.

At a crowded neighborhood party, Shea Michael Modiri (defendant) started and joined a group attack that left the teenage victim with multiple serious injuries. The evidence showed that defendant personally applied physical force to the victim several times. However, chaos at the scene prevented witnesses from linking the victim’s injuries to a particular assailant, weapon, or blow.

Defendant was convicted of felony assault (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1)),1 among other things. To enhance the sentence in any future prosecution, the jury sustained an allegation that, in the…