Court of Appeal Withholds Identity of Murderer

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

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Court of Appeal Withholds Identity of Murderer

Initials Used, Though Man Was Named in 2002 Opinion and in News Reports

By a MetNews Staff Writer

Div. Two of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, in conformity with an increasing trend of according anonymity to adult parties in proceedings, yesterday employed only the initials of a man who was convicted of a Jan. 4, 1999 murder of a 14-year-old during a drive-by-shooting, even though the man’s name appeared in news reports and in an unpublished appellate opinion.

Justice Carol D. Codrington provided no explanation in yesterday’s unpublished opinion for referring to the appellant—who was contesting the transfer of his case from juvenile to adult court—as “G.A.” She declared that “[f]inding no arguable errors that would result in a disposition more favorable to G.A.. we will affirm the order transferring G.A.’s case to adult court.”

The appellant was a month shy of 18 at the time of the shooting and was initially charged in Juvenile Court, but the matter was moved, on motion of the District Attorney’s Office, to adult court. He was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 90 years to life in prison.

In 2024, he moved in Juvenile Court for an order recalling his sentence, invoking Penal Code §1170(d)(1)(A) which provides:

“When a defendant who was under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense for which the defendant was sentenced to imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole has been incarcerated for at least 15 years, the defendant may submit to the sentencing court a petition for recall and resentencing.”

On Jan. 27 of this year, San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Lynn M. Poncin ordered a transfer to adult court, which the Court of Appeal yesterday affirmed.

Codrington did, in essence, reveal the identity of “G.A.,” who is now 45, saying in a footnote:

“The factual background is taken from this court’s nonpublished opinion from G.A.’s prior appeal in case No. E029194. (See People v. Arriaga (April 5. 2002. E029194) [nonpub. opn.] (Arriaga).)”

That opinion identifies the defendant—as news reports did—as Gilberto Arriaga.

The case is People v. G.A., E087756