People v. Avila

Opinion

BAXTER, J.

During the late night and early morning hours of July 31 and August 1, 1991, two young women, Dorothy Medina and Arlene Sanchez, attended a gathering in rural Fresno, where Medina was brutally gang raped. She and Sanchez were then driven to a canal bank and killed.

In 1994, a Fresno County jury convicted defendant Johnny Avila, Jr., codefendant Richard Avila, who is also defendant’s cousin, and codefendant Jeffrey Spradlin, of two counts of first degree murder. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 189.) It acquitted defendant and Richard Avila of one count of rape while acting in concert but…