A federal judge has turned down a request for a new trial by former North Carolina Latin Kings leader Jorge Cornell and two co-defendants who were found guilty of racketeering in December.
Cornell, along with fellow Latin King and biological brother Russell Kilfoil and an associate named Ernesto Wilson filed a motion for new trial following the verdict based on the contention that the jury was confused about court instructions on the use of a special verdict sheet.
On the second day of deliberations, the jury asked Judge James A. Beaty for clarification on whether the government's burden of proof rested on establishing that each defendant participated in two racketeering acts or whether they merely had to agree to participate in a racketeering enterprise in which two racketeering acts were committed.
The judge told lawyers for the government and the defendants that "the court cannot provide the answer for the ultimate decision they must make" and instead of answering the jurors question, called them back into court and read the jury instructions for a second time.
When the jury returned guilty verdicts for three of the defendants, they submitted verdict sheets indicating that the three had planned or committed the exact same racketeering activities: Multiple acts of robbery and bank fraud, and single acts of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and threats or violence.
"In light of the evidence presented at the trial of the case, it is clear that the only way the jury could have found identical predicate acts for each of the convicted defendants would be for the jury to ignore the instructions to consider the defendants individually and to base its verdict on the notion that each member of the conspiracy was responsible for all predicate acts that the jury concluded involved the enterprise," Michael Patrick, Cornell's court-appointed lawyer, wrote in the motion.
Defense lawyers cited as the most clear-cut evidence of confusion by the jurors the evidence against Wilson, who was convicted as an associate of the Latin Kings rather than a member.
"The government's evidence taken in the light most favorable to the government was that Mr. Wilson participated in a series of store robberies in April 2007," the motion stated. "No evidence indicated that Mr. Wilson remained in North Carolina after May of 2007 or that he had any further contact with the other persons that the government alleged were members of the conspiracy in this case. Nevertheless, Mr. Wilson was found responsible for conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, interference with commerce by threats or violence and multiple acts of bank fraud. The government's evidence established that none of these acts occurred before the spring of 2008 and in the case of the Smith Homes shooting — which may have been found to be the attempted murder predicate act — occurred as late as August 2011, more than four years after Mr. Wilson left North Carolina."
Judge Beaty responded in a written ruling on Wednesday to the effect that the defendants were mistaken in the jury was required to unanimously find that a particular defendant was responsible for committing specific racketeering acts himself.
"Defendants were not charged with and convicted of, committing individual racketeering acts," Beaty wrote. "Rather, defendants were charged with, and convicted of, conspiracy to conduct or participate in the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity."
Showing posts with label racketeering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racketeering. Show all posts
Jason Paul Yates, Latin Kings defendant, pleads out
Jason Paul Yates, a defendant in the North Carolina Latin Kings federal racketeering case, has entered a plea agreement with the US government.
The plea agreement, which was entered on Monday, was filed under seal. Yates' court-appointed lawyer, Joseph M. Wilson Jr., had alluded to a possible plea agreement when he mentioned his client's plans to meet with prosecutors "to see if the matter can be resolved" during a hearing last month.
Yates and co-defendant Jorge Cornell were rivals for the leadership of the North Carolina Latin Kings, with Yates coming to North Carolina from the Chicago area, where the street organization was founded in the 1940s, while Cornell moved to Greensboro from New York City in 2002. Chicago has developed a reputation as the more ruthless of the two organizations, while Cornell joined the Latin Kings in New York as a follower of the reform-minded King Tone in the 1990s.
Yates was active as a Latin King in Raleigh in the mid-2000s. In 2008, he moved to Greensboro, and Cornell moved into Yates' apartment shortly afterwards. Cornell was at Yates' apartment when he was shot by an unknown assailant in the summer of 2008. The crime has never been solved. Yates was a candidate to replace Cornell as a statewide leader of the Latin Kings that same year when a meeting was called by a faction intent on ousting Cornell. Yates lost the vote, and Cornell reportedly stripped him of his membership with authorization from the Chicago leadership of the Latin Kings.
Cornell, his younger brother Russell Kilfoil and an associate named Ernesto Wilson were convicted by a federal jury of racketeering in December, and await sentencing. Three other defendants were acquitted, and the charge was dropped against one by Judge James A. Beaty during the trial. Yates was originally going to be tried with the other seven defendants, but his case was severed from the others after his previous lawyer told the judge she was not prepared to go to trial.
The plea agreement, which was entered on Monday, was filed under seal. Yates' court-appointed lawyer, Joseph M. Wilson Jr., had alluded to a possible plea agreement when he mentioned his client's plans to meet with prosecutors "to see if the matter can be resolved" during a hearing last month.
Yates and co-defendant Jorge Cornell were rivals for the leadership of the North Carolina Latin Kings, with Yates coming to North Carolina from the Chicago area, where the street organization was founded in the 1940s, while Cornell moved to Greensboro from New York City in 2002. Chicago has developed a reputation as the more ruthless of the two organizations, while Cornell joined the Latin Kings in New York as a follower of the reform-minded King Tone in the 1990s.
Yates was active as a Latin King in Raleigh in the mid-2000s. In 2008, he moved to Greensboro, and Cornell moved into Yates' apartment shortly afterwards. Cornell was at Yates' apartment when he was shot by an unknown assailant in the summer of 2008. The crime has never been solved. Yates was a candidate to replace Cornell as a statewide leader of the Latin Kings that same year when a meeting was called by a faction intent on ousting Cornell. Yates lost the vote, and Cornell reportedly stripped him of his membership with authorization from the Chicago leadership of the Latin Kings.
Cornell, his younger brother Russell Kilfoil and an associate named Ernesto Wilson were convicted by a federal jury of racketeering in December, and await sentencing. Three other defendants were acquitted, and the charge was dropped against one by Judge James A. Beaty during the trial. Yates was originally going to be tried with the other seven defendants, but his case was severed from the others after his previous lawyer told the judge she was not prepared to go to trial.
Government counters Latin Kings' request for new trial
In the latest development in the North Carolina Latin Kings racketeering case, the US government filed a motion requesting that the court not grant defendants Jorge Cornell, Russell Kilfoil and Ernesto Wilson a new trial.
No surprise there.
Cornell, the leader of the North Carolina Latin Kings was convicted of criminal racketeering by a federal jury in November 2012. The jury also found Kilfoil, also a Latin Kings member and Cornell's biological brother, and Wilson, who was not a member, guilty. Three other defendants were acquitted, and charges against a fourth defendant were dismissed before the jury began deliberations.
The motion for a new trial filed by the three defendants contends that the jury was confused by court instructions on how to assess defendants' guilt in relation to specific underlying criminal acts. The verdicts attached the same set of criminal acts to all three defendants even though evidence clearly established that they could not have each participated in all of them. For example, Wilson left North Carolina in 2007, before Latin Kings members were alleged to have committed conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, interference with commerce by threats of violence and bank fraud.
The government responded on Wednesday:
Type rest of the post here
No surprise there.
Cornell, the leader of the North Carolina Latin Kings was convicted of criminal racketeering by a federal jury in November 2012. The jury also found Kilfoil, also a Latin Kings member and Cornell's biological brother, and Wilson, who was not a member, guilty. Three other defendants were acquitted, and charges against a fourth defendant were dismissed before the jury began deliberations.
The motion for a new trial filed by the three defendants contends that the jury was confused by court instructions on how to assess defendants' guilt in relation to specific underlying criminal acts. The verdicts attached the same set of criminal acts to all three defendants even though evidence clearly established that they could not have each participated in all of them. For example, Wilson left North Carolina in 2007, before Latin Kings members were alleged to have committed conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, interference with commerce by threats of violence and bank fraud.
The government responded on Wednesday:
Defendants argue that they should not be held accountable for the actions of the enterprise. However, where a defendant is found guilty of RICO conspiracy, he is responsible for acts that are reasonably foreseeable . See, United States v. Barbeito, 201 WL 2243878 (S.D.W.Va. 2010). A branch of the Latin Kings in North Carolina was created in 2005 by Cornell and his brothers. From its inception, criminal activity, including attacks on rival gangs, a need to get money, and otherwise instill fear into others was part and parcel of the Latin Kings. The Latin Kings also endeavored to grow in ranks and did so by expanding and creating tribes in various cities throughout North Carolina. As such, the actions of members of the Latin Kings and their associates, from inception to 2011, were reasonably foreseeable as they all fell within the scope of what the Latin Kings were during this time period.
Type rest of the post here
Day 15: North Carolina Latin Kings on trial (expanded)
The US government rested its case in the racketeering trial of seven North Carolina Latin Kings in federal court in Winston-Salem today, and a judge dismissed charges against one of the defendants.
US District Court Judge James A. Beaty Jr. dismissed charges against Carlos Coleman, also known as King Spanky, finding that the government had failed to produce evidence that he participated in two racketeering acts.
Chuck White, Coleman’s court-appointed lawyer, acknowledged there was passing mention of Coleman administering a “physical,” meaning a beating to another member for disciplinary purposes, but argued that the government condoned participation in the activity by its own paid informant.
The government has also presented evidence in the form of surveillance video and testimony that Coleman was part of a group that beat a former member to the ground outside the Guilford County Courthouse.
“There was a spontaneous fight that occurred at the courthouse,” White said. “That was not a racketeering act. It was a misdemeanor at best that resulted in two scraped elbows.”
The judge took up the defendant’s cause as Assistant US Attorney Robert AJ Lang raised objections to dropping him from the case.
“The evidence is that when he was subjected to a physical, he ran away and never came back,” Beaty said. “What overt act are you talking about?”
Lang responded, “We don’t have any overt acts for him. It’s his membership in the conspiracy and his knowledge that racketeering acts were going to be committed.”
Beaty denied the motion to dismiss charges against defendants Jorge Cornell, Russell Kilfoil, Randolph Kilfoil, Samuel Velasquez, Irvin Vasquez and Ernesto Wilson, ruling that a jury should decide whether they are guilty of racketeering activities.
In a day of transition, the government called its final witness, a New York Police Department detective; the judge took testimony with the jury out of the room on a federal civil rights complaint filed on behalf of the Latin Kings; the defense called its first witness to testify about a peace effort led by Cornell; and the judge warned that the lead defendant might face sanctions for communicating with defense witnesses.
In arguing for denial of the defendants’ motion for dismissal, Lang focused on what has come to be known as the “Maplewood shooting,” in which Latin King member Marcelo Ysrael Perez admitted to shooting Rogelio Lopez, a construction worker who was mistaken for a rival gang member. Lang argued that a meeting at Latin King Jason Yates' apartment in which other members were called from Durham and guns were requested established that the organization comprised a criminal racketeering enterprise.
He described a “conspiracy to commit murder,” and said three people had been armed, with one committing an assault. Testimony about a “black rose,” an order that Latin Kings were not to speak about the crime, was further evidence of racketeering, he said. That the assault was committed in retaliation for a concussion received by Anthony Vasquez, “the heir apparent,” was evidence that the assault was committed in furtherance of the organization rather than merely for personal reasons.
Lang said Cornell aided and abetted the assault at Maplewood Apartments, and that he encouraged bank fraud and shared in the proceeds from other members. He tied Cornell to the burglary of Cornerstone Insurance, where his ex-wife was a former employee, calling it an “inside job” in which the Latin Kings leader provided information to the members that carried it out.
Lang said that Russell Kilfoil facilitated and participated in bank fraud and ordered weapons after Cornell was shot. He cited testimony from Robert Vasquez, a former Latin Kings member, that he believed Kilfoil shot at his house.
Randolph Kilfoil, Lang said, had been involved in a robbery at Wal-Mart in 2006. He noted that brothers Anthony Vasquez and Robert Vasquez testified that Kilfoil assisted them in drug sales at bars. Although Randolph Kilfoil has been serving a federal prison sentence since 2010, Lang connected him to the enterprise by citing testimony by Richard Robinson that Kilfoil had called from prison.
Lang argued that Velasquez was a racketeering participant because he had provided machetes to other members in 2007, had been involved in a conspiracy to assault former member Sylvia Lugo and had taken part in an attempted murder at Smith Homes in 2011 in retaliation for the beating of another member.
Irvin Vasquez should remain charged because he had gone to Charlotte to recruit new members, had carried a gun in the back seat of his car and had held the position of third crown at one time, Lang said.
About Wilson, an individual who never joined the Latin Kings and was implicated in a string of robberies for a one-month period in 2007, Lang said, “He’s an associate in fact. He lived with the Latin Kings on Keeler Street. He shared the money.”
Michael Patrick, Cornell’s court-appointed lawyer, argued that there was insufficient evidence to establish that the shooting at Maplewood Apartments was done for the purpose of furthering the Latin Kings enterprise. He added, “There is no evidence that my client was present or provided the weapon.”
Christopher Shella, Randolph Kilfoil’s court-appointed lawyer, argued that the charges against his client should be dismissed because he was in prison for much of the time that the alleged racketeering acts were committed.
Helen Parsonage, the court-appointed lawyer for Irvin Vasquez, argued that the government had not met the requirement to show that her client had participated in two racketeering acts. As to the Maplewood shooting, in which Perez testified that Vasquez accompanied him armed with a gun, Parsonage said, “The evidence indicates this was retaliation on a personal level.”
She added, “The only evidence of my client’s involvement was from the testimony of the shooter, who had clear motivation” as a cooperating witness to help the government obtain convictions and lessen his time.
Curtis Holmes, Wilson’s court-appointed lawyer, cited testimony from Luis Rosa and Allan Jordan that his client “was down here to make some money.”
He said he wouldn’t have had much to say in response if Wilson had been charged with armed robbery, but racketeering didn’t fit because his client never had any interest in joining the Latin Kings.
“There’s not one tattoo; there’s not one piece of clothing,” Holmes said. “The lack of evidence that he was a Latin King weighs strongly for dismissal.
“This work that he did was for his personal, mercenary benefit, and not to advance the enterprise,” Holmes added.
The government’s final witness, New York Police Department Detective David Milani, testified about Latin Kings structure, symbolism, customs, conflict dynamics and criminal activities. As an expert witness, he testified that the North Carolina organization was “modeled directly after the Latin Kings in New York.”
After the lunch break, Patrick called Anita Earls, executive director of the Durham-based Southern Coalition for Social Justice, to testify about a civil rights complaint her organization prepared on behalf of the Latin Kings. The hearing was held while members of the jury were out of the courtroom. Patrick declined to comment on the purpose of the hearing during an afternoon break.
Earls testified that she filed the complaint in person with the civil rights division of the US Justice Department in Washington.
“I did not receive any notification of any action whatsoever in connection with that complaint,” Earls testified.
Later, after a delegation of concerned citizens from Greensboro made a follow-up visit to the Justice Department in Washington to press for action on a number of complaints against the police department, Earls said she received a phone call from Julie Fernandez at the department.
“It was her view that this was a gang,” Earls testified, “and because of that they were not going to investigate.”
Lang asked Earls if she ever interviewed alleged victims of the Latin Kings’ crimes or police officers in Greensboro and Charlotte. Earls said she had not. Lang asked her if she had been aware that Latin Kings had been charged in the shooting of Rogelio Lopez at Maplewood Apartments. Earls answered that her staff generally tried to look at charges and their ultimate disposition, but didn't specifically remember the shooting charge.
Patrick introduced into evidence an August 2008 press release stating that Cornell had expressed forgiveness to whomever shot him. Judge Beaty did not allow the jury to hear testimony on the press release after hearing concern from prosecutor Leshia Lee-Dixon that it would essentially amount to “giving testimony from the mouth of Mr. Cornell through a witness.”
After a bench hearing, the judge did allow testimony on a peace agreement among gangs.
“This evidence would be to rebut the government’s general evidence about racketeering practices,” Patrick said, explaining the relevancy of the document.
The Rev. Greg Headen, the first witness called by the defense, testified about the agreement, which he said was forged in the basement of Genesis Baptist Church, where he is the pastor. As noted in the first paragraph of the agreement, Headen testified that the meeting included representatives of the Latin Kings, the Black Peace Stone Nation, the Crips, the Five Percenters, the Piru Bloods and the Nation of Islam.
“I think it was the idea of Jorge Cornell,” testified Headen, whose demeanor suggested humility and timidity before the prosecution. The pastor also said Cornell was shot shortly after the agreement was reached.
Headen testified that he worked with Cornell right up to the time “he was taken from us” in December 2011.
“We were working together on many things,” Headen said. “There was a black-brown conference that was hosted at my church. Latin King brothers and sisters came to us and requested that we counsel them. They poured out their hearts to us. They sponsored a picnic behind Rev. [Nelson] Johnson’s church. There were members of other street organizations there.”
Under cross-examination by Lang, Headen testified that he did not attend “universals,” or meetings, at the Latin Kings house on Terrell Street, and was not invited to do so.
In a tone much softer than his examination of former gang members, law enforcement officers and other government witnesses, Lang asked Headen about conflict between Cornell’s group and other Latin Kings.
“We talked some because of his commitment to peace,” Headen testified. “There were some people who were not living up the rules. And they were put out of the group. He told me about that.”
The second witness called by Cornell was Guilford County Sheriff’s Office Detective John Lowes, a co-case manager in the racketeering investigation and the primary handler of informant Jose Lugo. Lowes authenticated an audio recording played for the jury, and confirmed that it documented a July 2010 traffic stop near the end of the period that Lugo wore a wire for the government.
Lugo can be heard in the recording referencing Lowes’ name to a law enforcement officer and admonishing the officer: “I can’t tell you my business, but you should know.”
The conversation then turns friendly, and the officer says, “I’m not going to write somebody your age or our age a ticket because you have a baby.”
Later, as the car starts moving again, Lugo can be heard exulting to a female companion: “I can move all these kilos of cocaine…. Over here, I’m the motherfucking man…. I don’t have any problems…. I don’t ever have to go to court…. You come over here I will get away with more shit than I will in Charlotte. I should have moved over here a long time ago.”
The day opened with discussion about a motion to sanction Cornell that was filed by the government. Lee-Dixon said Cornell has had communication with Rev. Johnson and Alana Cornell, the defendant’s ex-wife and the mother of his two daughters.
Lee-Dixon said recordings of phone calls obtained by the government indicate that Cornell has had extensive conversations with the two about different aspects of the trial, including grand jury testimony. She said she believes the conversations violate Judge Beaty’s sequestration order at the beginning of the trial, which prohibits witnesses from being present in court prior to their testimony.
“Our concern is if these witnesses come to the stand, their testimony could be tainted,” the prosecutor said.
Lee-Dixon also expressed concern that a person identified only by the initial D has been observing the trial and providing notes to Johnson, and that during a press conference (see story) last week Johnson mentioned the name of a potential defense witness who had been identified by one of the government’s potential witnesses as someone who had stated that he shot Cornell.
Judge Beaty, who was visibly angry, admonished from the bench that “any witness who speaks to another witness about what is heard in court may be subject to contempt of court.”
The government notes in its motion that “sequestration of trial witnesses serves the important purpose of preventing the possibility of one witness shaping his testimony to serve a specific purpose based on what other witnesses have provided.”
The government's motion alleges that on the first day of the trial, Cornell made phone calls to Johnson and “D,” and discussed trial testimony and the judge’s sequestration order.
“Just as the defendant has a right to a fair trial by jury, the government also holds this right, which will be completely undermined if the defense is allowed to call two witnesses whose testimony has been so tainted and influenced by defendant Cornell and the information he has provided them concerning the specifics of so many of the government’s substantive witnesses,” the motion argues. “To allow these two witnesses to testify in the face of defendant’s intentional, repeated violation of this court’s sequestration order would be to permit willful, obstructionist conduct to pass without serious consequence. The government therefore respectfully requests that this court prohibit Reverend Johnson and Alana Cornell from testifying and thus preserve the integrity and fundamental fairness of this trial.”
The judge is expected to determine whether sanctions should be applied tomorrow morning. He told members of the jury they should be prepared to return to court at 2 p.m.
US District Court Judge James A. Beaty Jr. dismissed charges against Carlos Coleman, also known as King Spanky, finding that the government had failed to produce evidence that he participated in two racketeering acts.
Chuck White, Coleman’s court-appointed lawyer, acknowledged there was passing mention of Coleman administering a “physical,” meaning a beating to another member for disciplinary purposes, but argued that the government condoned participation in the activity by its own paid informant.
The government has also presented evidence in the form of surveillance video and testimony that Coleman was part of a group that beat a former member to the ground outside the Guilford County Courthouse.
“There was a spontaneous fight that occurred at the courthouse,” White said. “That was not a racketeering act. It was a misdemeanor at best that resulted in two scraped elbows.”
The judge took up the defendant’s cause as Assistant US Attorney Robert AJ Lang raised objections to dropping him from the case.
“The evidence is that when he was subjected to a physical, he ran away and never came back,” Beaty said. “What overt act are you talking about?”
Lang responded, “We don’t have any overt acts for him. It’s his membership in the conspiracy and his knowledge that racketeering acts were going to be committed.”
Beaty denied the motion to dismiss charges against defendants Jorge Cornell, Russell Kilfoil, Randolph Kilfoil, Samuel Velasquez, Irvin Vasquez and Ernesto Wilson, ruling that a jury should decide whether they are guilty of racketeering activities.
In a day of transition, the government called its final witness, a New York Police Department detective; the judge took testimony with the jury out of the room on a federal civil rights complaint filed on behalf of the Latin Kings; the defense called its first witness to testify about a peace effort led by Cornell; and the judge warned that the lead defendant might face sanctions for communicating with defense witnesses.
In arguing for denial of the defendants’ motion for dismissal, Lang focused on what has come to be known as the “Maplewood shooting,” in which Latin King member Marcelo Ysrael Perez admitted to shooting Rogelio Lopez, a construction worker who was mistaken for a rival gang member. Lang argued that a meeting at Latin King Jason Yates' apartment in which other members were called from Durham and guns were requested established that the organization comprised a criminal racketeering enterprise.
He described a “conspiracy to commit murder,” and said three people had been armed, with one committing an assault. Testimony about a “black rose,” an order that Latin Kings were not to speak about the crime, was further evidence of racketeering, he said. That the assault was committed in retaliation for a concussion received by Anthony Vasquez, “the heir apparent,” was evidence that the assault was committed in furtherance of the organization rather than merely for personal reasons.
Lang said Cornell aided and abetted the assault at Maplewood Apartments, and that he encouraged bank fraud and shared in the proceeds from other members. He tied Cornell to the burglary of Cornerstone Insurance, where his ex-wife was a former employee, calling it an “inside job” in which the Latin Kings leader provided information to the members that carried it out.
Lang said that Russell Kilfoil facilitated and participated in bank fraud and ordered weapons after Cornell was shot. He cited testimony from Robert Vasquez, a former Latin Kings member, that he believed Kilfoil shot at his house.
Randolph Kilfoil, Lang said, had been involved in a robbery at Wal-Mart in 2006. He noted that brothers Anthony Vasquez and Robert Vasquez testified that Kilfoil assisted them in drug sales at bars. Although Randolph Kilfoil has been serving a federal prison sentence since 2010, Lang connected him to the enterprise by citing testimony by Richard Robinson that Kilfoil had called from prison.
Lang argued that Velasquez was a racketeering participant because he had provided machetes to other members in 2007, had been involved in a conspiracy to assault former member Sylvia Lugo and had taken part in an attempted murder at Smith Homes in 2011 in retaliation for the beating of another member.
Irvin Vasquez should remain charged because he had gone to Charlotte to recruit new members, had carried a gun in the back seat of his car and had held the position of third crown at one time, Lang said.
About Wilson, an individual who never joined the Latin Kings and was implicated in a string of robberies for a one-month period in 2007, Lang said, “He’s an associate in fact. He lived with the Latin Kings on Keeler Street. He shared the money.”
Michael Patrick, Cornell’s court-appointed lawyer, argued that there was insufficient evidence to establish that the shooting at Maplewood Apartments was done for the purpose of furthering the Latin Kings enterprise. He added, “There is no evidence that my client was present or provided the weapon.”
Christopher Shella, Randolph Kilfoil’s court-appointed lawyer, argued that the charges against his client should be dismissed because he was in prison for much of the time that the alleged racketeering acts were committed.
Helen Parsonage, the court-appointed lawyer for Irvin Vasquez, argued that the government had not met the requirement to show that her client had participated in two racketeering acts. As to the Maplewood shooting, in which Perez testified that Vasquez accompanied him armed with a gun, Parsonage said, “The evidence indicates this was retaliation on a personal level.”
She added, “The only evidence of my client’s involvement was from the testimony of the shooter, who had clear motivation” as a cooperating witness to help the government obtain convictions and lessen his time.
Curtis Holmes, Wilson’s court-appointed lawyer, cited testimony from Luis Rosa and Allan Jordan that his client “was down here to make some money.”
He said he wouldn’t have had much to say in response if Wilson had been charged with armed robbery, but racketeering didn’t fit because his client never had any interest in joining the Latin Kings.
“There’s not one tattoo; there’s not one piece of clothing,” Holmes said. “The lack of evidence that he was a Latin King weighs strongly for dismissal.
“This work that he did was for his personal, mercenary benefit, and not to advance the enterprise,” Holmes added.
The government’s final witness, New York Police Department Detective David Milani, testified about Latin Kings structure, symbolism, customs, conflict dynamics and criminal activities. As an expert witness, he testified that the North Carolina organization was “modeled directly after the Latin Kings in New York.”
After the lunch break, Patrick called Anita Earls, executive director of the Durham-based Southern Coalition for Social Justice, to testify about a civil rights complaint her organization prepared on behalf of the Latin Kings. The hearing was held while members of the jury were out of the courtroom. Patrick declined to comment on the purpose of the hearing during an afternoon break.
Earls testified that she filed the complaint in person with the civil rights division of the US Justice Department in Washington.
“I did not receive any notification of any action whatsoever in connection with that complaint,” Earls testified.
Later, after a delegation of concerned citizens from Greensboro made a follow-up visit to the Justice Department in Washington to press for action on a number of complaints against the police department, Earls said she received a phone call from Julie Fernandez at the department.
“It was her view that this was a gang,” Earls testified, “and because of that they were not going to investigate.”
Lang asked Earls if she ever interviewed alleged victims of the Latin Kings’ crimes or police officers in Greensboro and Charlotte. Earls said she had not. Lang asked her if she had been aware that Latin Kings had been charged in the shooting of Rogelio Lopez at Maplewood Apartments. Earls answered that her staff generally tried to look at charges and their ultimate disposition, but didn't specifically remember the shooting charge.
Patrick introduced into evidence an August 2008 press release stating that Cornell had expressed forgiveness to whomever shot him. Judge Beaty did not allow the jury to hear testimony on the press release after hearing concern from prosecutor Leshia Lee-Dixon that it would essentially amount to “giving testimony from the mouth of Mr. Cornell through a witness.”
After a bench hearing, the judge did allow testimony on a peace agreement among gangs.
“This evidence would be to rebut the government’s general evidence about racketeering practices,” Patrick said, explaining the relevancy of the document.
The Rev. Greg Headen, the first witness called by the defense, testified about the agreement, which he said was forged in the basement of Genesis Baptist Church, where he is the pastor. As noted in the first paragraph of the agreement, Headen testified that the meeting included representatives of the Latin Kings, the Black Peace Stone Nation, the Crips, the Five Percenters, the Piru Bloods and the Nation of Islam.
“I think it was the idea of Jorge Cornell,” testified Headen, whose demeanor suggested humility and timidity before the prosecution. The pastor also said Cornell was shot shortly after the agreement was reached.
Headen testified that he worked with Cornell right up to the time “he was taken from us” in December 2011.
“We were working together on many things,” Headen said. “There was a black-brown conference that was hosted at my church. Latin King brothers and sisters came to us and requested that we counsel them. They poured out their hearts to us. They sponsored a picnic behind Rev. [Nelson] Johnson’s church. There were members of other street organizations there.”
Under cross-examination by Lang, Headen testified that he did not attend “universals,” or meetings, at the Latin Kings house on Terrell Street, and was not invited to do so.
In a tone much softer than his examination of former gang members, law enforcement officers and other government witnesses, Lang asked Headen about conflict between Cornell’s group and other Latin Kings.
“We talked some because of his commitment to peace,” Headen testified. “There were some people who were not living up the rules. And they were put out of the group. He told me about that.”
The second witness called by Cornell was Guilford County Sheriff’s Office Detective John Lowes, a co-case manager in the racketeering investigation and the primary handler of informant Jose Lugo. Lowes authenticated an audio recording played for the jury, and confirmed that it documented a July 2010 traffic stop near the end of the period that Lugo wore a wire for the government.
Lugo can be heard in the recording referencing Lowes’ name to a law enforcement officer and admonishing the officer: “I can’t tell you my business, but you should know.”
The conversation then turns friendly, and the officer says, “I’m not going to write somebody your age or our age a ticket because you have a baby.”
Later, as the car starts moving again, Lugo can be heard exulting to a female companion: “I can move all these kilos of cocaine…. Over here, I’m the motherfucking man…. I don’t have any problems…. I don’t ever have to go to court…. You come over here I will get away with more shit than I will in Charlotte. I should have moved over here a long time ago.”
The day opened with discussion about a motion to sanction Cornell that was filed by the government. Lee-Dixon said Cornell has had communication with Rev. Johnson and Alana Cornell, the defendant’s ex-wife and the mother of his two daughters.
Lee-Dixon said recordings of phone calls obtained by the government indicate that Cornell has had extensive conversations with the two about different aspects of the trial, including grand jury testimony. She said she believes the conversations violate Judge Beaty’s sequestration order at the beginning of the trial, which prohibits witnesses from being present in court prior to their testimony.
“Our concern is if these witnesses come to the stand, their testimony could be tainted,” the prosecutor said.
Lee-Dixon also expressed concern that a person identified only by the initial D has been observing the trial and providing notes to Johnson, and that during a press conference (see story) last week Johnson mentioned the name of a potential defense witness who had been identified by one of the government’s potential witnesses as someone who had stated that he shot Cornell.
Judge Beaty, who was visibly angry, admonished from the bench that “any witness who speaks to another witness about what is heard in court may be subject to contempt of court.”
The government notes in its motion that “sequestration of trial witnesses serves the important purpose of preventing the possibility of one witness shaping his testimony to serve a specific purpose based on what other witnesses have provided.”
The government's motion alleges that on the first day of the trial, Cornell made phone calls to Johnson and “D,” and discussed trial testimony and the judge’s sequestration order.
“Just as the defendant has a right to a fair trial by jury, the government also holds this right, which will be completely undermined if the defense is allowed to call two witnesses whose testimony has been so tainted and influenced by defendant Cornell and the information he has provided them concerning the specifics of so many of the government’s substantive witnesses,” the motion argues. “To allow these two witnesses to testify in the face of defendant’s intentional, repeated violation of this court’s sequestration order would be to permit willful, obstructionist conduct to pass without serious consequence. The government therefore respectfully requests that this court prohibit Reverend Johnson and Alana Cornell from testifying and thus preserve the integrity and fundamental fairness of this trial.”
The judge is expected to determine whether sanctions should be applied tomorrow morning. He told members of the jury they should be prepared to return to court at 2 p.m.
Preparing for trial: Elusive audio and the Latin Kings
As the government prepares to make its case against the North Carolina Latin Kings in federal court in Winston-Salem next week, the defendants are seeking to suppress evidence about an alleged order in December by organization leader Jorge Cornell to kill three members who had rebelled against his rule and transport machetes from Raleigh to Greensboro for that purpose.
Michael Patrick, Cornell’s lawyer, said in a motion filed on Oct. 3 that the information about an alleged threat to kill a fellow Latin King member surfaced in a search warrant affidavit by someone identified as FBI Special Agent Rentz, who wrote, “This information was corroborated through a confidential source and audio recordings made by the source, which captured the relevant conversation.”
Patrick said he has reviewed 2,400 pages of transcripts of government recordings and hundreds of audio recordings, and found no references to the alleged threat from mid-December through mid-January. Last month, Patrick requested the audio recordings from the government, but none have been furnished.
US Attorney Ripley Rand responded on Monday that the recording has, in fact, been turned over to the defense, but that “the recording was not located in the normal transcripts because a portion of it was in Spanish and it was translated by others, not the contractor hired by the government to transcribe most of the source recordings.” (Related: Controversy over government evidence has previously surfaced and might crop up during the trial.)
Lewis Pitts, a lawyer who attended a court hearing today as part of a community support effort, said the government seemed to acknowledge that they don’t have a recording that backs up the claim. Patrick could not be reached on Tuesday evening for comment on who the defense might call as witnesses and who is on the government’s list.
“I just felt that was the most significant thing that happened today: something as critical and prejudicial that you say you’ve got a taped conversation of Jorge ordering people to kill three former Latin Kings, and then it turns out you don’t,” Pitts said. “That’s indicative of how this is a trumped-up indictment intended and designed to retaliate for and chill the exercise of First Amendment rights to organize and protest economic and racial justice.
“And that organizing and protesting is exactly what a school board member is willing to testify to, a council member is willing to testify to, various pastors are willing to testify to, and a former mayor is willing to testify to,” Pitts said.
Pitts noted that Guilford County School Board member Deena Hayes appointed Cornell to serve on a school safety committee. Greensboro City Councilman Jim Kee assisted the accused gang leader with plans to establish a temporary staffing agency. Pitts said supporters are hoping the defendants’ lawyers will call prominent community leaders as witnesses.
Pitts also said the government gave the defense lawyers a list of 137 potential witnesses.
The US Attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Pitts assertion that the apparent lack of audio evidence to substantiate the Cornell’s alleged kill order indicates the criminal racketeering charges are trumped up.
“We really hope that the defense theory is centered around the truthful counter-narrative of the government’s retaliation for good work even though it involved organizing and protesting and the credible people who can substantiate the good work,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s imperative that those facts be available to the jury to provide a context for them to determine the truth about the matter.”
In a trial brief filed last month, the government pledges to prove that the Cornell and the other North Carolina Latin Kings are members of a national criminal organization and they had no legitimate or legal purpose other than to commit crimes. The brief says that by virtue of indicting the defendants on racketeering charges, the government “assumed the burden of showing that the defendants did not just commit crimes, but that they participated in something larger than any single crime or any single defendant.”
The government gave notice on Monday that it plans to call several expert witnesses, including Guilford County Sheriff’s Deputy John Lowes, FBI Task Force Officer David Milani, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Ernie Driver, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Stephen Razik and retired Greensboro Fire Department inspector Tony Wesley Davenport.
The document said Lowes will testify to the nature of the Latin Kings, the group’s activities in and around Greensboro, its purported “violent nature,” crimes committed by members, the meaning of phrases and jargon used in interpersonal communication, and the significance of identifiers such as colors, signs, tattoos and monikers. Opinion testimony offered by Lowes will be based on field observation, direct communication with gang members, street “intelligence” and the review of documents.
The government said Milani, an intelligence analyst with the National Counterterrorism Center and New York Police Department veteran, will testify that the Latin Kings of North Carolina are modeled after counterpart groups in New York and Chicago based on “the use of ‘manifestos’; symbols such as the lion, five-pointed and three-pointed crown, beaded necklaces of yellow, black and red beads, which are prominent in the organization’s dogma; referring to women members as ‘queens’; using hand signals to communicate their own language, including rank, name, orders; membership practices; a code of silence; and the use of tattoos, such as the crown to indicate membership.”
The government said Driver will testify that firearms and ammunition at issue in the case have been transported in interstate commerce. Razik, they said, “will testify regarding the process of making cocaine, where cocaine is made, and the importation of cocaine into the United States,” although the government gave no indication of how these phenomena are relevant to the case. Davenport is expected to testify that an unknown accelerant was used to start a fire that burned down a house on Kirkman Street.
Pitts said the government is expected to have about 250 potential jurors fill out questionnaires on Oct. 15, and jury selection will begin on Oct. 17. Opening arguments are expected on Oct. 22.
Pitts said obtaining a fair jury will be critical to the outcome of the case.
“A major reason to be concerned about fairness is the number of times that articles have appeared in new media about the Latin Kings mentioning an arrest but failing to note all the charges that were dismissed,” he said. “A mere recitation of the allegations in the indictment is enough to make one frightened and, in fact, biased.”
Michael Patrick, Cornell’s lawyer, said in a motion filed on Oct. 3 that the information about an alleged threat to kill a fellow Latin King member surfaced in a search warrant affidavit by someone identified as FBI Special Agent Rentz, who wrote, “This information was corroborated through a confidential source and audio recordings made by the source, which captured the relevant conversation.”
Patrick said he has reviewed 2,400 pages of transcripts of government recordings and hundreds of audio recordings, and found no references to the alleged threat from mid-December through mid-January. Last month, Patrick requested the audio recordings from the government, but none have been furnished.
US Attorney Ripley Rand responded on Monday that the recording has, in fact, been turned over to the defense, but that “the recording was not located in the normal transcripts because a portion of it was in Spanish and it was translated by others, not the contractor hired by the government to transcribe most of the source recordings.” (Related: Controversy over government evidence has previously surfaced and might crop up during the trial.)
Lewis Pitts, a lawyer who attended a court hearing today as part of a community support effort, said the government seemed to acknowledge that they don’t have a recording that backs up the claim. Patrick could not be reached on Tuesday evening for comment on who the defense might call as witnesses and who is on the government’s list.
“I just felt that was the most significant thing that happened today: something as critical and prejudicial that you say you’ve got a taped conversation of Jorge ordering people to kill three former Latin Kings, and then it turns out you don’t,” Pitts said. “That’s indicative of how this is a trumped-up indictment intended and designed to retaliate for and chill the exercise of First Amendment rights to organize and protest economic and racial justice.
“And that organizing and protesting is exactly what a school board member is willing to testify to, a council member is willing to testify to, various pastors are willing to testify to, and a former mayor is willing to testify to,” Pitts said.
Pitts noted that Guilford County School Board member Deena Hayes appointed Cornell to serve on a school safety committee. Greensboro City Councilman Jim Kee assisted the accused gang leader with plans to establish a temporary staffing agency. Pitts said supporters are hoping the defendants’ lawyers will call prominent community leaders as witnesses.
Pitts also said the government gave the defense lawyers a list of 137 potential witnesses.
The US Attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Pitts assertion that the apparent lack of audio evidence to substantiate the Cornell’s alleged kill order indicates the criminal racketeering charges are trumped up.
“We really hope that the defense theory is centered around the truthful counter-narrative of the government’s retaliation for good work even though it involved organizing and protesting and the credible people who can substantiate the good work,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s imperative that those facts be available to the jury to provide a context for them to determine the truth about the matter.”
In a trial brief filed last month, the government pledges to prove that the Cornell and the other North Carolina Latin Kings are members of a national criminal organization and they had no legitimate or legal purpose other than to commit crimes. The brief says that by virtue of indicting the defendants on racketeering charges, the government “assumed the burden of showing that the defendants did not just commit crimes, but that they participated in something larger than any single crime or any single defendant.”
The government gave notice on Monday that it plans to call several expert witnesses, including Guilford County Sheriff’s Deputy John Lowes, FBI Task Force Officer David Milani, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Ernie Driver, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Stephen Razik and retired Greensboro Fire Department inspector Tony Wesley Davenport.
The document said Lowes will testify to the nature of the Latin Kings, the group’s activities in and around Greensboro, its purported “violent nature,” crimes committed by members, the meaning of phrases and jargon used in interpersonal communication, and the significance of identifiers such as colors, signs, tattoos and monikers. Opinion testimony offered by Lowes will be based on field observation, direct communication with gang members, street “intelligence” and the review of documents.
The government said Milani, an intelligence analyst with the National Counterterrorism Center and New York Police Department veteran, will testify that the Latin Kings of North Carolina are modeled after counterpart groups in New York and Chicago based on “the use of ‘manifestos’; symbols such as the lion, five-pointed and three-pointed crown, beaded necklaces of yellow, black and red beads, which are prominent in the organization’s dogma; referring to women members as ‘queens’; using hand signals to communicate their own language, including rank, name, orders; membership practices; a code of silence; and the use of tattoos, such as the crown to indicate membership.”
The government said Driver will testify that firearms and ammunition at issue in the case have been transported in interstate commerce. Razik, they said, “will testify regarding the process of making cocaine, where cocaine is made, and the importation of cocaine into the United States,” although the government gave no indication of how these phenomena are relevant to the case. Davenport is expected to testify that an unknown accelerant was used to start a fire that burned down a house on Kirkman Street.
Pitts said the government is expected to have about 250 potential jurors fill out questionnaires on Oct. 15, and jury selection will begin on Oct. 17. Opening arguments are expected on Oct. 22.
Pitts said obtaining a fair jury will be critical to the outcome of the case.
“A major reason to be concerned about fairness is the number of times that articles have appeared in new media about the Latin Kings mentioning an arrest but failing to note all the charges that were dismissed,” he said. “A mere recitation of the allegations in the indictment is enough to make one frightened and, in fact, biased.”
Latin Kings defense challenges case, prosecution worries about witnesses' safety
Jorge Cornell, the jailed leader of the North Carolina Latin Kings, filed a response to the government’s motion for protective order through his appointed public defender on Friday. Cornell’s motion characterizes the government’s motion as being sealed, but it isn’t listed on PACER, a service that electronically archives federal court documents. The response states that on July 16, the government alleged that an unnamed defense lawyer had provided discovery materials to Cornell and that unspecified threats “had been made on the internet concerning the loyalty” of three co-defendants who had plead guilty.
“As you are aware, there is significant public support that has been on display since the indictment that remains critical of the prosecution efforts in this case,” Michael W. Patrick, who represents Cornell, wrote in an e-mail (link) to Assistant US Attorney Robert AJ Lang and Assistant US Attorney Leshia Lee-Dixon, on Thursday. “I assume that you are alluding to the expressions protected under the First Amendment when you talk about loyalty comments. If you have any real evidence to support the allegation of witness intimidation please provide it as soon as possible.”
Patrick submitted a printout of the ALKQN Support website (link), speculating that one of the postings might be what drew the government’s objections. “An examination of this posting demonstrates that it is clearly speech protected by the First Amendment, and the posting can hardly be categorized as a threat to anyone,” the response states. “Any suggestion by the government that this is the threat that the government’s motion refers would be absurd.”
A June 24 posting signed by the NC ALKQN Defense Coalition states, “Three of the seven Kings we all have been supporting for the past 6 months — Charles Moore, Luis Rosa and Richard Robinson — have taken cooperating plea agreements. As of yet, we are unaware of the details of these agreements. What we are aware of, however, is how deeply this compromises the safety, trust and solidarity upon which this support network is founded. We will no longer support these three men, financially, emotionally or otherwise.”
The posting characterizes the three defendants as “victims of a violent, inhumane culture of disinformation and misdirection perpetrated by the police, federal agents and prosecuting attorneys.” It goes on to say, “As a central point of affinity between anarchists and the NC ALKQN, as we have experienced it through our relationship with Kings and Queens, is the belief that snitching against your brothers, sisters or comrades is not an option. Through the act of turning your back on your family you are no longer part of that community, but you work for the Feds — our common enemy.”
A July 20 letter from Lang to Patrick confirms the government’s concern.
“Regarding the issue of providing copies of the discovery to your client, the government is opposed to this based on the long-standing policy of the US Attorney’s Office in your district,” he wrote. “The basis for the concern in this case relates to the safety of those individuals who may be cooperating with the government as well as information regarding this case being posted on the internet, thereby communicating with other Latin Kings members throughout the country.”
Patrick complained that the government’s policy “is significantly hampering the ability of counsel to confer with the clients about the case.” Patrick said an another matter “causing significant difficulties” is the fact that the defendants are housed three hours away in Farmville, Va. He asked if the government would object to the defendants being moved back to the Middle District of North Carolina before the trial. Lang responded that housing for federal defendants is determined by the US Marshals Service and the prosecution would not intervene.
One of the motions filed variously on behalf of five defendants, including Cornell, Russell Kilfoil, Randolph Kilfoil, Samuel Velasquez and Wesley Williams, calls on the government to distinguish criminal actions by defendants who were not members of the organization at the time of their offenses from those alleged in the indictment to be crimes in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy by the Latin Kings. Another seeks to suppress evidence seized by the Greensboro Police Department in a house raid and vehicle stop because in the first instance the police allegedly fail to establish probable cause and in the second because they allegedly lacked a warrant.
The five defendants also asked the government to prune the indictment of allegations about the national structure and culture of the Latin Kings organization and “protected speech and association activities” by Cornell that could be “prejudicial and inflammatory” to a jury. Finally, Cornell, Williams and Russell Kilfoil filed a Brady motion requesting the court to order the government to release potentially exculpatory information about an allegation that the organization attempted to extort money from a cell phone store employee and from a government investigation of a civil rights complaint filed by the Latin Kings about the Greensboro Police Department.
From the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Indictment as Duplicitous (link):
The government’s discovery indicates that on or about October 1, 2008, several alleged members of the Latin Kings including an unindicted co-conspirator Cesar Herrara and co-defendant Paul Yates attempted to call a meeting to vote out co-defendant Jorge Cornell as Inca of the Latin Kings in North Carolina. The government evidence indicates that as a result, defendants Jason Yates and Irvin Vasquez were expelled from the Latin Kings in October 2008. Nevertheless, the indictment alleges Yates and Vasquez committed overt acts after that time in furtherance of the Latin Kings racketeering enterprise conspiracy charged in the indictment. For example, the superseding indictment in ¶18(q) alleges that on or about December 18, 2008, Yates, Vasquez and two others committed an armed robbery and kidnapping of a drug dealer in Morrisville, North Carolina. The superseding indictment also alleges that in March 2009, defendant Cornell ordered members of the Latin Kings to be ready to take action against Yates. See ¶18(z). While the actions taken after October 2008 by Yates and Vasquez may have theoretically constituted a second racketeering conspiracy conducted by Yates and Vasquez, their actions cannot have been in furtherance of the racketeering enterprise that the indictment alleges defendant Cornell was conducting.
The Motion to Suppress Evidence (link) indicates that Greensboro police seized a firearm, various controlled substances and documents in two separate searches.
The motion argues that an affidavit in support of a search warrant of 2809 Keeler Street, where the Latin Kings stayed for a time, “contains no reliable information to establish probable cause”:
The affiant stated the following: “a confidential source [said] that they have witnessed persons from 2809 Keeler St partaking in drug activity outside of their business.” The affidavit provides no information about the reliability of this source. It does not identify these persons. The affidavit provides no link between the residence and the drug activity; since Keeler street is a residence and the affidavit indicates that the drug activity occurred outside the confidential source’s business there is no explanation of why there is a connection to residence. United States v. Lalor, 996 F.2d 1578 (4th Cir. 1993). In addition, there is no information about the temporal relationship of the receipt of the information to the date on which the warrant was requested. Time is the crucial element of probable cause. United States v. McCall, 740 F2d 1331-36 (4th Cir. 1984).
The affidavit goes on to state that a trash pull was conducted at the residence. The affidavit is silent as to when this trash pull occurred. In addition, police are not authorized to search trash from a residence without a search warrant. California v. Greenwood, 486 US 35 (1988), United States v. Tate, 524 F3d 449 (4th Cir. 2008).
The motion alleges that the Greensboro police officers were working with the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force in June 2007 when they obtained the search warrant. The government has acknowledged the collaborative role of federal, state and local law enforcement in building the case against the North Carolina Latin Kings.
A press release (link) from the US Attorney’s Office at the time of indictment last December included a prepared statement by Chris Briese, the special agent in charge of the FBI Charlotte Division: “These arrests today are an outstanding example of the tireless work of the Safe Streets Task Force. The gang’s attempt to portray the Latin Kings as a public service organization did not deter the FBI and our law enforcement partners from uncovering their scheme.”
Also from the Motion to Suppress:
The stop and search of the van was a warrantless search. It is well settled that a search conducted without a warrant is per se unreasonable unless a valid exception to the warrant requirement exists. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 US 218 (1973). In this case the validity of the initial stop of the vehicle was doubtful. The incident reports of the officer claimed that the traffic stop was initiated for failure of the vehicle to stop at a stop sign…. In addition, the weapons that were seized as concealed weapons were found in plain view by the police following the traffic stop whereas the arresting officers claimed that the facts that the weapons were concealed was the basis for seizing the weapons in this case.
In its Motion for Production of Evidence (link), Patrick questions whether the government has provided all required documents.
Per the government’s allegations of extortion:
Counsel has requested copies of information related to the overt act of Count 1 that alleges that defendants Cornell and Kilfoil extorted money from a cell phone store employee (Alma Esparza). These charges were the subject of state charges against both defendants to which Ms. Esparza plead guilty and which the state ultimately dismissed. Upon information and belief, during the state prosecution, the prosecution and police had access to store receipts and store videos that showed Ms. Esparza buying thousands of dollars of merchandise such as jewelry with money she had embezzled. From an examination of the government discovery in this file which is redacted as to witness identities, it appears that Ms. Esparza will testify as a government witness in connection with this overt act. Furthermore, during the detention hearing held in this matter, the testifying FBI agent indicated the government had evidence that this witness has purchased merchandise for her own use.
The motion references a story (link) published in YES! Weekly last December that quoted Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Howard Neumann from a 2008 interview.
“She told the police a couple different stories,” Neumann said of Esparza, without referencing her by name. “One of the stories was that she was doing this for the Latin Kings, and they had threatened to harm her family if she didn’t continue to do so. We were able to find where she had literally made thousands of dollars of cash purchases herself at a jewelry store in Greensboro, and at Dillards at Four Seasons. We were able to substantiate that she was spending the cash. All these were public places that were under video surveillance by businesses.”
Assistant US Attorney Leshia Lee-Dixon said in a letter (link) to Patrick on July 5: “To date, law enforcement is not aware of any store videos that depict Esparza making purchases.”
Per the Latin Kings’ civil rights complaint (link):
Several persons associated with the Latin Kings, including defendant Jorge Cornell, through counsel filed a Title IV complaint with the United States Department of Justice alleging, inter alia, that the Greensboro police department was committing discriminatory acts by pursuing unfounded criminal cases against Hispanic members of the Greensboro community. A number of these criminal cases involve cases brought against the defendants in the present actions that were subsequently dismissed in state court….
A comparison of the Title VI complaint to the overt acts alleged in Count One of the superseding indictment in this case illustrates a substantial overlap between the events concerned in the two cases. Under federal law, the DOJ is required to undertake investigation of complaints against police agencies receiving federal funding such as the GPD.
Beginning in June 2012, counsel for defendant Cornell began requesting that the government disclose copies of the investigative materials generated by the DOJ’s investigation of the Title VI complaint because it potentially contains information relevant to the allegation of the indictment in which the complaint overlaps, and the information is potentially exculpatory. To date, the government has not disclosed any information concerning the investigation.
Reporting note: Thoroughness and professionalism dictate that the US Attorney's Office for the Middle District of North Carolina, the Greensboro Police Department and the NC ALKQN Defense Network should have been given an opportunity to respond to information in this article, but regrettably I'm leaving for a nine-day vacation in less than 24 hours, so time didn't allow for interviews. However, I'm sure the issues raised here will be vetted in due time.
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