People v. Cardarelli CA2/7

── People v. Cardarelli CA2/7 ── Court: California Court of Appeal Date: April 23, 2026 Category: General Filed 4/23/26 P. v. Cardarelli CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION SEVEN THE PEOPLE, B337513 (Los Angeles County Super. Plaintiff and Respondent, Ct. No. KA121884) v. SHAUN CARDARELLI, Defendant and Appellant. APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Mike Camacho, Jr., Judge. Affirmed. Boyce & Schaefer and Laura Schaefer, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Amanda V. Lopez and Nicholas J. Webster, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ______________________  Shaun Cardarelli appeals from a judgment after a jury found him guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit arson and found true the special circumstance that Cardarelli committed the murder while engaged in a robbery. Cardarelli contends his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to and stipulating to the admission of three sets of hearsay evidence. We affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. The Prosecution’s Case 1. The participants When they were 15 years old, friends A.S. and S.B. ran away from their foster home and lived with 18-year-old Elijah Rouse in his apartment. While living there, A.S. would have sex with men for money. Rouse would set up appointments for A.S. and take pictures of her for the men. A.S. would give money she made to Rouse. Sometimes after A.S. had sex, Rouse would rob the man using a knife that had a red handle and no tip. A.S. also had frequent contact with 37-year-old Cardarelli, whom she referred to as “uncle” because he used to date her aunt. S.B. overheard Cardarelli and Rouse talking about using A.S. to lure men to the apartment so they could rob them. 2. The murder of John Aguila On August 20, 2019, Cardarelli texted A.S., “You said to let you kno the plan. What plan?” A.S. responded, “what U wanted to do,” adding, “my roommate/BF” “that’s who I’m staying with.” Cardarelli stated he would contact A.S. when he found his stolen car. In the early morning of August 21, A.S. texted Cardarelli that she had “clients” coming over. Cardarelli asked if he was 2 supposed to be present, told her to be safe, and then again asked if she needed him there. An hour later, A.S. texted Cardarelli that she had a client on his way. A.S. texted, “[Rouse] said it would be easier nn more quiet if your here.” She added, “So yea. Go ahead n come.” Cardarelli responded, “I think he is right I should be there,” adding, “I so wish you would have told this to me sooner.” Several hours later, Cardarelli asked A.S., “How did everything go?” A couple hours later, she sent him multiple photos of herself, including some in which she was only partially clothed. That evening, Cardarelli texted A.S. that he could “help out” by coming to the apartment and asked, “What time is this going to happen?” A.S. responded, “We waitin on reply [but] we have a couple others as well.” Cardarelli later texted that he was on his way. That same evening, A.S. had a man over to the apartment who was going to pay for sex. The man was smoking with A.S. and S.B. S.B. text