Friend:

Anthony Dispensa told jurors in his ex-friend’s murder trial Thursday that there’s an unwritten rule in jail: You snitch, you die.

Dispensa, claiming his life has been threatened for taking the witness stand, opted to testify against Joshua Blount anyway.

In more than an hour of testimony, Dispensa walked jurors through the events in early August 2006 that eventually led to 23-year-old Israel Maciel’s slaying.

Maciel, a Costa Mesa resident who was not a gang member, was killed in a drive-by shooting in the alley in the 1300 block of West Baker Street. Four of his friends were wounded in the attack.

Blount, a 24-year-old reported gang member from Compton, is accused of driving the car and being the sole shooter, prosecutors said.

Dispensa corroborated earlier witness testimony that the shooting was rooted in an Aug. 1, 2006, fight between some of Maciel’s friends, and Dispensa and Blount’s friends. Tensions in the neighborhood were still high the next day when an unidentified woman drove past the group of men asking for “Josh,” prosecutors claim. Dispensa testified the girl told Blount later that one of the men in the group spit on her.

“We don’t want no problems with those guys over there,” Dispensa told jurors. He said Blount took the girl with him to smooth things over with the guys. Instead, Blount was rebuffed, Dispensa testified.

“Josh was real upset. He said he was going to go to Compton and get some homies,” Dispensa testified.

Prosecutors claim Blount then dropped the girl off at a friend’s house in Tustin, then returned alone ready to fight. Dispensa testified he got in the car along with Brandon Novoa, a fugitive wanted for unrelated charges. Blount was driving, witnesses testified. They drove down the alley to the men, Dispensa said.

That’s when Blount started shooting, Dispensa told jurors. He recalled that he closed his eyes and ducked down, he wasn’t sure where the shooting was coming from.

“I was shocked. I said, ‘What the [expletive]?’” Dispensa testified.

Blount replied, “Don’t start trippin’,” Dispensa recalled for jurors.

“What you mean ‘don’t start trippin’?” Dispensa repeated.

“Don’t start actin’ like a [expletive],” he said Blount replied.

“You shouldn’t have done that man. We live there,” Dispensa testified he told Blount.

Dispensa testified Blount then called friend David Ortega, in Tustin, to get rid of the gun. Ortega is charged with accessory to murder and is a fugitive, according to court records.

Defense attorney Barry Bernstein aimed to put the gun in Dispensa’s hand during cross-examination. He argues that Dispensa, who had a thicker mustache, a larger build and a tattoo on his right forearm like Blount, more closely resembles witnesses’ descriptions of the shooter.

“I never shot a gun in my life. Let alone shoot anybody,” Dispensa said.

Dispensa’s testimony cannot be used against him in his own murder trial, Bernstein noted to jurors. Dispensa’s charges were not reduced in exchange for his testimony, though, prosecutors said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy also revealed that detectives found two gun cleaning kits, a manual for a 9 mm Glock pistol and two boxes of 9 mm bullets in Blount’s grandmother’s apartment.

The prosecution rested its case Thursday, and the defense is expected to rest its case Monday or Tuesday.

Dispensa’s mother is expected to testify Monday that her son told her he was the shooter.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].