California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from The People v. Cooper, B214490, No. NA079743 (Cal. App. 2010):
A person does not participate in the crime of possession of narcotics without knowing that the narcotics are present. (See People v. Montero (2007) 155 Cal.App.4th 1170, 1176.) Committing a crime in gang territory in the presence of a gang member, without more, is inadequate to establish that the defendant committed the crime with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist criminal conduct by gang members. (People v. Ramon, supra, 175 Cal.App.4th at p. 851.) The record must contain evidence that appellant was not merely acting on his own behalf. (Ibid.) The record did not contain such evidence in this case.
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