By Raul Hernandez (Contact) Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A Ventura County Superior Court jury on Tuesday found a member of the
Hells Angels Motorcycle Club guilty of assault with a deadly weapon
likely to cause great bodily injury in connection with a bar brawl in
Newbury Park.
Judge Kevin DeNoce set sentencing for Brandon Thomas Mundell for Jan.
28.
Mundell, 28, a San Fernando Valley resident, is facing nine years and
four months in prison when he is sentenced, according to prosecutor
Derek Malan.
Mundell, who was out on $180,000 bail, was taken into custody after the
verdicts were read.
Jurors also found Mundell committed the crime for the benefit of, in
association with, and at the direction of the Hells Angels. Jurors also
found true that the Hells Angels are a criminal street organization.
Malan said that as far as he knows, this is only the second time that a
California jury has found the Hells Angels were a criminal organization.
He said the first time was in King County, where the Hells Angels'
Fresno Chapter was accused of assaulting with deadly weapons another
motorcycle club in that city.
Malan said in an interview that the gang-related finding against the
Hells Angels by jurors is something that happens only infrequently
because witnesses are afraid to testify against the club. In Mundell's
trial, Malan said one witness recanted his testimony and said he didn't
recall a single thing about the bar fight.
The prosecutor credited the testimony of sheriff's deputy and gang
expert Jeremy Paris for convincing the jury that the Hells Angels were a
criminal street gang.
The jury found Mundell guilty of driving while intoxicated after the
2006 bar brawl and injuring a Ventura County sheriff's deputy. Jurors
also said Mundell's blood-alcohol level was higher than .08 percent,
which is the benchmark for legal intoxication.
Mundell was found not guilty of three counts of exhibiting a weapon, a
knife. Malan said in an interview that he had told the jurors during the
trial to find Mundell not guilty because he believed there wasn't enough
evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mundell is a member of the Hells Angels' San Fernando Valley chapter,
and he and two other bikers went to the now-closed Take Five Bar and got
into a fight with patrons at 1:40 a.m. Jan. 19, 2006.
The prosecutor said the men went to the bar — allegedly frequented by
members of a rival group, the Mongols — to challenge them to a fight.
The Mongols, who are said to have a chapter in Camarillo, were
apparently not at the bar that night.
Mundell's lawyer, Dino Inumerable, declined to comment.
Inumerable, however, argued during closing arguments in the trial that
it was Mundell who defended himself against the bar patrons because he
feared for his life.
Inumerable told jurors the prosecution wanted them to believe that his
client used a four-inch knife to take over an entire bar that could have
been "potentially infested" with rival gang members and that he set out
to do it with the help of two bikers who weren't even Hells Angels.
Malan said Mundell is still facing similar assault with a deadly weapon
charges stemming from a bar fight in Simi Valley in 2007. He said a
person was stabbed and Mundell was with two Hells Angels associates.
Does this mean that the "Hells Angels" may be next to suffer the fate of the "Mongols" at the hands of the courts? Having their trademarks seized by the government? We have posted often on gang/criminal street organization legislation sweeping the country. Were thinking most people think that legislation is aimed at street commandos. Not so folk. IT is aimed at everybody.
Click here to see more posts related to "gangs"Add to Technorati Favorites
0 comments:
Post a Comment