Gangs in Court Book

Preface and Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction: My Personal-Professional Journey into the World of Criminal Gangs     1
Some Basic Gang Concepts Developed from My Personal and Professional Experiences     8
Role Theory and Gang Crimes     8
Near-Group Theory     9
The Issue of "Gang Membership: Six Basic Gang-Role Categories of Gang Status     9
Gangs in Court     11
Endnote     18
A Brief History of American Gangs in the Criminal Justice System     19
Gangs 1900-1950     19
Early territorial gangs     20
Bootleg gangs     21
Post-Prohibition gangs     24
The 1950s Youth Gang Era     24
The New York City Youth Board     25
The Morningside Heights Gang Project     25
Social gangs     25
Delinquent gangs     26
Violent gangs     26
Endnote     29
General Characteristics of Contemporary Criminal Street Gangs     31
The Impact of More Lethal Weapons     32
Black-on-Black and Chicano-on-Chicano Violence     33
Family Issues     35
Drugs and Violence     37
Multipurpose Gangs     39
The Emotional Characteristics of Gangsters     40
Seeking status in a gang     40
Macho syndrome or psychosis     40
Why Gangsters "Snitch"     42
The arrest situation     43
Fingering an outsider     43
The police     46
Defective Socialization     47
Gangsters as Sociopaths     50
A summary of sociopathic perspectives on the gangster     53
The sociopathic gangster's attitudes toward females     54
The gangster's suicidal tendencies     56
Some of the causal factors that create the dysfunctional family of the sociopathic gangster     58
Endnotes     60
Gang Racial Issues: Chicano, Black, White Power, and Asian Gangs In and Out of Prison     61
Hispanic Gangs     62
Machismo and Chicano gangs     65
Jose: a Puerto Rican New York gangster     69
African-American Gangs     72
A prototypical black gangster: Ed's story     73
Gangsters and Gangs in Prison     82
White Power Gangs in Prison     85
White Power gangs: Nazi Low Riders     85
A General Analysis of Asian Gangs     87
A Cambodian gang case      94
Endnotes     98
Summary and Analysis of the Social and Psychological Factors That Are the Foundation for My Opinions and Testimony As an Expert Witness     99
Introduction     99
Gang Structure and Near Group Theory     100
Gang Roles     101
Active gang roles     101
Non-active gang roles     102
Eight Factors for Determining a Defendant's Gang Identity     103
A Non-Gang Member     104
Non-Criminal Gang Activities     105
Gang-related and Non-gang-related Crimes in the Law     106
Gang Culture In the Judicial Process     109
The macho syndrome     109
Suicidal tendencies     109
Gangsters as sociopaths     109
The Value and Veracity of a Gangster's Testimony as a Witness in a Criminal Case     110
The Spontaneous Nature of Gang Violence: A Case in Point     111
The Concepts of "Imperfect Self-Defense" and "Victim-Precipitated Homicide"     116
Victim-precipitated violence     116
Endnotes     118
Gangs and the Death Penalty     119
Death Penalty Report     119
A Florida Death Penalty Case     120
A California Death Penalty Report on Sam      125
An Arizona Gang Murder Case     128
Summary of the case     128
A California Case for Determining a Life or Death Penalty     133
A California Case Report     136
The Argument for Life Without Parole in Lieu of the Death Penalty     142
The Therapeutic Community: An Important Mitigator in Testifying for Life without Parole instead of the Death Penalty     144
A model prison therapeutic community     145
Lifers as "experience-therapists" for younger prisoners     151
Researching Gang Killers and Other Murderers     152
Endnotes     155
The Viewpoint of the Prosecutor     157
Preface     157
Foreword to the Article by Andrew Wright, Senior Attorney, American Prosecutors Research Institute     157
Prosecuting Gang Cases: What Local Prosecutors Need to Know     158
Introduction     158
Overview of a Gang Case: Getting Jurors Out of the Courtroom     159
What Gang Evidence Can Prove: The Tip of the Iceberg     160
To Prove Intent     160
To Prove Motive     161
To Prove Identity     162
To Prove Criminal Liability     163
To Explain Witnesses' Conduct     163
To Explain Gang Life      164
Why Do Gang Members Join Gangs?     165
Will the Real Defendant Please Stand Up?     165
Turf, Territory, and Membership     165
Get Ready for the Fight: Greasing the Skids     166
Witness Problems in Gang Cases     166
California's STEP Act as a Model     168
Getting the Most Out of the Gang Expert     170
Closing Remarks     172
Endnotes     173
Appendix A     174
Appendix B     180
Proposed Voir Dire Questions for a Gang Case     180
Appendix C     181
Sample Direct Examination for a Gang Expert     181
Alan Jackson's Acknowledgements     183
A Panorama of Some Notable Gang Cases I Have Worked on as an Expert Witness-Including My Brief Theory and Analysis of These Prototypical Cases     185
Preface     186
The Egyptian King Gang Murder     188
A Homicide Involving a Convicted Hells Angels Gang Murderer     188
A Gang Murder in Hollywood     189
The Prosecution of Two Gangster Defendants Involved in the Attempted Murder of Reginald Denney during the 1992 LA Riots     189
A Drive-by Shooting Case     189
Gang Robbery and Coercion of the Defendant      191
A Murder in Santa Barbara     192
Asian Gang Homicide     192
A Gang Homicide     194
Case Involving the Alleged Shooting of a Gun into a Bar     195
The Assault of the Pagan Biker Gang     196
Salinas Gang Retaliation Case Involving a Young Girl Being Molested by the "Alleged" Victim     202
A Robbery Homicide     203
Hells Angels Motorcycle Gang     204
A Victim-Precipitated Gang Homicide     206
Gang Retaliatory Homicide Committed by a Former G     207
Gang Carjack and Robbery Case     210
A Norteno-Sureno Confrontation that Resulted in a Homicide     212
Gang Robbery Case     214
Gangsters Killing Their Homies     216
The Case of a Fourteen-Year Old Wannabe Caught in the Web of a Gang Murder     217
Gang Case Involving and Alleged Gang Carjacking and Shooting into a Building in Salinas     220
Gang Case of a G Robbing an Individual of His Rolex Watch     223
How a Violent Gang Hood Influenced a Mother to Spank Her Child in Order to Stand Up to Gang Bullies     223
A Gangster's Effort to Silence a Witness     226
An Altercation in an Alleged Prison Gang Conflict     226
Gang Homicide by an Alleged Colonia Gang Member at a Party     229
Complicated Asian Gang Conflict and Homicide Involving Tiny Rascals Gang versus Crazy Brothers Clan Cambodian     230
Gang Case Involving a Youth Studying the Norteno-Sureno Complex, Hanging Out with a Gang and Being Arrested     232
A Gang Homicide Involving Two Individuals Who Allegedly Belonged to an Armenian Gang Known as "Armenian Power"     234
A Gang Homicide in the Tehachapi State Prison     238
A Gang Homicide in the Los Angeles County Central Jail     238
Alleged Gang Shooting     242
An Alleged Gang Attack That Centered Around a Drug Deal     244
Drug Dealer Allegedly Involved in the Murder of Two of His Cohorts     247
A Question and Answer Report for Testimony Requested by an Attorney Related to a Case of Homicide and Necrophilia     248
A Prisoner of Love in a Motorcycle Gang     254
A Prison "Gang Fight"     260
Addendums: Some Basic Theories Relevant to Street Gangs That Support My Foregoing Opinions     262
The Gay Cabellero Bank Robber     268
A Las Vegas White "Fight-Gang"     270
A Party Fight That Was Alleged to Be a Gang Fight     279
The Murder of a Policeman     282
A Drive-By Murder     285
A Gang Drug-Dealer's Female Partner     288
A Woman "Sexed Into a Gang" That Involved Two Murders     294
The Insanity of a Norteno/Sureno Murder     296
"Do or Die" for the Aryan Brotherhood     297
A Gangsta Rap Club Melee and Gang Shooting     299
A Civil Suit Brought by Two Attorneys in Defense of a Youth Harassed as an Identified Gangster by the Reno Police Department     302
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Prison: An Attempt to Intervene in Preventing the Development of a Gangster     306
Afterword     307
Endnotes     308
Enhanced Gang Penalties-Sentencing Laws in the United States     309
About the Author     335
Index     337