Facts

Petitioner Luis Montenegro was convicted of attempted possession of a controlled substance, street terrorism, possession of methamphetamine for sale, and resisting arrest. The court also found true a street gang enhancement imposed on Petitioner. Petitioner was then sentenced to 23 years in prison. Thereafter Petitioner sought a petition for a writ of habeus corpus to challenge his conviction and sentence based on Sixth and Fourteenth amendment right violations.

PETITIONER'S CONTENTIONS: Petitioner contended his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when the trial court improperly admitted testimonial hearsay by the gang expert. Specifically, Petitioner contended the People presented expert testimony of a Bakersfield Police Department Gang Unit Senior Officer and thereafter admitted portions of the officer's testimony that constituted unreliable and inadmissible hearsay. Thus Petitioner contended his right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment were violated in order to prove the criminal street gang charge and enhancement.

RESPONDENT'S CONTENTIONS: Respondent denied Petitioner's contentions and subsequently argued that any error in admitting the expert's testimony was harmless because the introduced evidence was duplicative of already other properly admitted evidence.

Result

The court granted Petitioner's habeus corpus relief after it determined the trial court erred when it concluded the admitted testimonial hearsay by the gang expert was harmless.