## Facts

- Corey Ray Johnson, Joseph Kevin Dixon, and David Lee, Jr. were alleged members of the Country Boy Crips (CBC), a Bakersfield criminal street gang.
- The prosecution presented evidence of gang structure and roles, including testimony from a CBC member who described defendants’ activities and status within the gang.
- Evidence at trial described a series of retaliatory shootings against rival gangs between March and August 2007, including retaliation after Lee was shot.
- Defendants were jointly tried and convicted of multiple offenses, including first degree murder, attempted murder, active participation in a criminal street gang (Cal. Penal Code § 186.22(a)), and a single conspiracy count charging conspiracy “to commit felony assault, robbery, murder, and gang participation.”
- The legal dispute on review centered on whether California recognizes conspiracy to commit the substantive offense of active gang participation.

## Issues

1. Whether Penal Code § 182 permits a charge of conspiracy to commit the substantive offense of active participation in a criminal street gang under Penal Code § 186.22(a).
2. Whether an agreement among gang members to commit felonies can constitute conspiracy to violate § 186.22(a) when coupled with an overt act.

## Decision

- The California Supreme Court held that conspiracy to commit active gang participation under § 186.22(a) is a cognizable offense under § 182.
- The Court reasoned that when an active gang participant, with the required knowledge and intent, agrees with fellow gang members to commit a felony, that agreement also constitutes agreement to commit the gang-participation offense.
- The Court rejected the Court of Appeal’s conclusion that “conspiracy to actively participate in a criminal street gang” is not a crime.
- The judgment of the Court of Appeal was reversed to the extent it held such a conspiracy theory invalid, and the matter was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court’s holding.

## Legal Principles

- Penal Code § 182 applies to conspiracies to commit “any crime,” and absent contrary legislative intent, this includes the substantive offense in Penal Code § 186.22(a).
- Active gang participation (§ 186.22(a)) requires: (1) active participation in a criminal street gang, (2) knowledge of the gang’s pattern of criminal gang activity, and (3) willfully promoting, furthering, or assisting felonious criminal conduct by gang members.
- A conspiracy may be charged for § 186.22(a) when an active participant, with the required knowledge and intent, agrees with other gang members to commit a felony and a conspirator commits an overt act in furtherance of that agreement.
- Recognizing conspiracy to violate § 186.22(a) is consistent with the STEP Act’s aim to deter and punish coordinated gang crime and does not depend on inferring an unstated exception to § 182’s “any crime” language.

## Conclusion

California law permits charging and proving conspiracy to commit the offense of active participation in a criminal street gang under Penal Code §§ 182 and 186.22(a) when gang members agree to commit felonies and an overt act is committed in furtherance of the agreement.


People v. Johnson, 57 Cal. 4th 250, 303 P.3d 379 (Cal. 2013)