Monthly Archives: March 2009

Truck passenger convicted of unintentional murder in nightclub parking lot deaths

March 31, 20097:02 p.m.

A man riding in a truck when it ran over and killed two people last summer is guilty of second-degree unintentional murder and voluntary manslaughter, a jury decided this afternoon.

The jury returned their verdict on lesser charges for Carlos Chavez-Aguilar, 22, who had gone on trial accused of second-degree intentional murder.

Second-degree unintentional murder is a reckless action taken with extreme disregard for human safety. Voluntary manslaughter is a sudden death occurring in the heat of passion.

Chavez-Aguilar is set for sentencing May 15 before Sedgwick County District Judge Joseph Bribiesca. Chavez-Aguilar’s lawyer, Brad Sylvester, said he plans to ask for a new trial, after raising objections to Bribiesca allowing gang testimony.

Police said a fight broke around 2 a.m. on Aug. 23 in the parking lot of the El Alacran Club at Harry and Seneca. An officer with the Wichita police gang unit testified that members of the Surenos 13, Vato Loco Boys and North Side Gangsters started the fight.

A pickup truck drove around the corner of the building and through the parking lot, killing Juan Martinez, 22, and Marilyn Arreola, 54. Carlos Chavez-Aguilar also was convicted of aggravated battery in the injury of a third person.

Rene Chavez-Aguilar, 20, charged with driving the truck, faces trial April 27.

(Note: Brad Sylvester and I are not related)

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The book of RICO: jury instructions of biblical proportations

March 30, 20096:26 p.m.

The 89 pages of jury instructions in the RICO Crips trial had lawyers comparing it to parts of the Bible in today’s closing arguments.

“We have jury instructions longer than the Psalms, except there is no poetry in them,” defense lawyer Paul McCausland said of the jury instructions given Friday by U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten.

That was just one of several biblical references by defense lawyers trying to explain complicated charges stemming from RICO, the 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act.

Lengthy legal instructions frequently lose jurors with complex vocabulary, grammar and legal rhetoric, experts say.

“Bad jury instructions aren’t just ignored, they can also actively confuse jurors,” said Anne Reed, a trial lawyer and jury consultant from Milwaukee, in a discussion on Twitter.

While she hadn’t seen the packet for this trial, I asked Reed her definition of “bad” jury instructions.

“Frankly most instructions qualify,” she answered.

Dennis C. Elias, a social psychologist who runs a Phoenix jury consulting firm and blogs about juror issues, agreed that jurors don’t always understand complicated instructions.

“Jurors don’t share vocab, context, logic path, or meaning with authors of instructions,” Elias tweeted. “Confusion reigns as result.”

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Weather stalls RICO trial

March 27, 20091:23 p.m.

Weather interfered with the continuation of the federal racketeering trial against six accused Crips gang members this morning.

As sleet peppered the windows of the federal courthouse, U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten halted the trial and sent jurors home under the threat of more severe winter storms this afternoon.

Marten spent nearly 2 1/2 hours reading 89 pages of legal instructions, upon which jurors will base their deliberations.

With the storm expected to pass this weekend, Marten recessed the trial until 9 a.m. Monday for lawyers to present their closing arguments.

The charges stem from the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO.

We will continue live courtroom updates Monday, via Twitter.

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Jurors to get RICO case Friday

March 26, 20096:28 p.m.

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Friday in the case of six men charged with running organized crime through the Crips street gang in Wichita.

After U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten gives legal instructions and lawyers present closing arguments, the jury will get the case.

Marten gave jurors the day off Thursday, as he worked with the lawyers on finalizing the legal instructions that will guide the jury in reaching its verdict.

Follow live updates on the trial via Twitter.

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Verbal volleys from the Tiller trial

March 25, 20095:10 p.m.

On television court dramas, witnesses give clear answers to direct questions. After all, the entire story has to wrap by the top of the hour. In real life, testimony isn’t always so easy.

Put yourself in the jurors’ seat for this exchange between Kristen Neuhaus and prosecutor Barry Disney during the trial of George Tiller Monday. Tiller is charged with performing abortions in an illegal business relationship with Neuhaus, another doctor.

In the following video, Neuhaus appears to take pains to keep from saying she “worked” for Tiller, even has she compares what she did in Wichita to a doctor she “worked for” in Kansas City, Kan. This video lasts less than three minutes. Jurors have had to listen to days of this kind of testimony:

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Are juror tweets grounds for a new trial?

March 13, 20096:05 p.m.

When judges tells jurors not to discuss a case with anyone, they also mean via social networks such as Twitter.

A $12.5 million verdict is being challenged in Arkansas over a juror sending “tweets” – the 140-character posts on the Twitter micro-blogging network.

The motion for a new trial was filed Thursday on behalf of a building materials company in a suit won by two investors and described by one lawyer as a “Ponzi scheme” comparible to the Bernie Madoff case.

Lawyers for the defendant claim the juror filed eight tweets from his cell phone:

“One read in part: “oh and nobody buy Stoam. Its bad mojo and they’ll probably cease to Exist, now that their wallet is 12m lighter.”

Another describing what “Juror Jonathan” did today, read: “I just gave away TWELVE MILLION DOLLARS of somebody else’s money.”

I’ve used Twitter to cover trials, but judges have told jurors not to look at coverage over the Internet. They also tell jurors not to discuss the case outside of court. That would also mean don’t talk about it on Twitter.

It would appear the plaintiffs in this case might have an argument if the juror tweeted after the verdict and after the judge released him from duty.

Regardless, those involved in trials should be careful how they use the Internet and social networking.

Cindy Stanford (aka @WichitaCindy) told me she stopped following me on Twitter when she was called to jury duty in a the present Crips trial in federal court. She did not make the final jury panel and started following me again after she was released.

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RICO trial off for a day: me for a week

March 13, 200911:22 a.m.

The federal RICO trial fo six accused Crips members took the day off today.

The trial resumes Monday with prosecutors expecting to continue presenting their case most of next week. Although I have been covering the trial on Twitter, I am taking next week off to spend spring break with my children.

I will return March 23, in time to cover the defense. I appreciate everyone who has been following the live coverage and this blog.

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Recapped: A glossary of gang slang

March 12, 20094:09 p.m.

The Crips trial going on the past couple of weeks has revealed a life within our city where violence visits regularly. Not only are details of testimony about the gang lifestyle foreign to many, so is its language. You don’t need the Urban Dictionary to keep track. I’ve compiled a list, according to witness testimony the past few weeks.

  • OG: original gangster.
  • Jumped in: being beaten up as an initiation to joining a gang. You can also leave a gang by being “jumped out.”
  • Blessed in: being taken into the gang on the word of a current member.
  • Do work: committing crimes, including robberies and drive-by shootings.
  • Rock it up: make powder cocaine into crack cocaine using baking soda and boiling water.
  • Half a bird: 10 ounces of crack.
  • Snow white: cocaine.
  • Greens: marijuana; (syn.) trees.
  • CK and/or BK: Initials for “Crip killer” or “Blood killer” used by members of those rival gangs.
  • Shot caller: A gang member, usually an OG who gives orders to younger members.
  • Spot: a house or apartment run by a gang member for selling drugs and stashing guns and money.
This has caused questioning such as the following exchange between lawyer Carl Maughan and witness Prentice Byrd this week:

Q. You testified about “OG” meaning original gangster. There is also some other terms, right? “BG,” what does that mean?

A. Baby gangster.

Q. That’s baby gangster. “YG?”

A. Young gangster.

(transcribed by Jana Hoelscher, court reporter)

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Is there a “code of the streets?” Researchers say yes

March 11, 20093:28 p.m.

While I’m covering a gang racketeering trial, an interesting research report just came out from the Department of Justice.

The “code of the streets” report released today says that neighborhood and community values can play a big role in whether African-American males adopt violent lifestyles.

The report concludes:

“The stress of living in a poor and violent environment can cause young people to adopt the code of the street as a lifestyle guide.”
I’m hearing lots of testimony about the code of the streets in Wichita during testimony this week in federal court.

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Retweets from the RICO gang trial

March 10, 20094:40 p.m.

A cool part about covering a trial via Twitter is seeing reaction from those following the coverage. That’s the “social” part of the Internet social networking experience. But there’s been an interesting twist in the coverage of the federal racketeering trial of six accused Crips gang members.

Not only is it a first here in federal court, it’s the first trial I’ve had “retweets.” Retweet is Twitter-speak for someone repeating one of the short, 140-character posts to their followers — passing it along to a broader audience.

A few of the posts people have “retweeted” (RT) during the past week of testimony — from Barnegat, N.J. to Seattle:

  • Alex73013: @rsylvester “Smith initially said he didn’t know anything about the robbery, but he eventually admitted to robbing the store to police.” …
(Police said one of the defendants changed his story during an interview)
  • LindsayGriffith: Oops! RT @rsylvester: Court just learned that one of the jurors realized she’s a cousin to the fingerprint examiner who testified earlier.
(U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten questioned the juror and later determined she didn’t know the witness well enough to affect her ability to be impartial).
  • DBallardReisch: @rsylvester Not really clear how anyone remembers what happened in 1995!
(Prosecutors are chronicling 16 years of crimes they say show an organized criminal enterprise by the defendants and witnesses are having to testify years after the incidents)
  • EmilyMedvec: RT @RSylvester “There was a man in the bathroom, who she said she didn’t know.”
(from testimony about a home invasion)
  • VBalasubramani: “To get OG status,’you’ve got to put in work.’ That includes riding in retaliation of the enemies.” (@rsylvester – from trial)
(OG stands for “original gangster)

Continue following the trial this week at the box on the left or on my Twitter feed.

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