Gang Law Update

Question 1

What did AB 333 do?

Answer 1

It limited the gang enhancement law.

Question 2

What is the new definition of a gang?

Answer 2

A “criminal street gang” is “an ongoing, organized association or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, having as one of its primary activities the commission of one or more [enumerated criminal acts], having a common name or common identifying sign or symbol, and whose members collectively engage in, or have engaged in, a pattern of criminal gang activity.” (Assem. Bill 333, § 3; amended § 186.22, subd. (f), eff. Jan. 1, 2022, italics added.)

Question 3

What are the new timing requirements for predicate offenses under AB 333?

Answer 3

The last of the predicate offenses must have occurred within three years of the prior offense and within three years of the current offense.

Question 4

Can two predicate offenses be committed on the same occasion?

Answer 4

No. The predicated offenses must now be committed on separate occasions or by two or more gang members.

Question 5

Can the predicate offenses only benefit a gang member personally?

Answer 5

No. The predicate offenses must “commonly benefit a criminal street gang.”

Question 6

Can the common benefit of predicate offenses to the gang be reputational?

Answer 6

No. The common benefit must be more than reputational.

Question 7

Can the currently charged offense be a predicate offense under AB 333?

Answer 7

No.

Question 8

Can the predicate offenses be committed by non-gang members?

Answer 8

Under the former law, yes. But AB 333 changes the requirement for predicates to require that the predicates be committed by “gang members.”

Question 9

What are four examples of ways a predicate offense might provide a common benefit that is more than reputational to a gang?

Answer 9

1. financial gain or motivation,
2. retaliation,
3. targeting a perceived or actual gang rival, or
4. intimidation or silencing of a potential current or previous witness or informant.