California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Murillo, G035844 (Cal. App. 5/21/2007), G035844 (Cal. App. 2007):
Defendant also claims People v. Valdez, supra, 58 Cal.App.4th at p. 508 stands for the proposition that expert testimony on whether the defendant acted for the benefit of a gang "is permissible only if the situation is so complicated that expert opinion on the subject is necessary." Valdez did not say that. Valdez involved a group of people from different gangs who came together one day to attack another gang. Given these unique facts, the court concluded "the questions of how such a diverse group . . . could have been acting for the benefit of a street gang and whether the participants were doing so presented matters far beyond the common experience of the jury and justified expert testimony." (Id. at pp. 508-509.)
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