Opinion ID: 1855277
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: hammett's testimony

Text: Marcus Hammett testified that on the night of the shooting, Hansen had picked up Rufus Dennis, James Murry, and him in Hansen's Impala, and that earlier in the evening, they was like, we gonna go dump on some slobs. He explained that this meant they were going to [s]hoot us some Bloods. Later in his testimony, Hammett indicated that at the very least, Murry had made this statement. Prior to the shooting, Hansen was carrying the sawed-off shotgun under the front seat of his car. According to Hammett, Hansen told Hammett that he was carrying the shotgun in his car because some members of the Bloods street gang had been shooting at him approximately 2 weeks earlier. Hammett testified that during the two nights prior to the shooting of Savin, he had gone out with Hansen, and the shotgun had been fired. First, 2 days before Savin was killed, Hammett, Dennis, Murry, and a friend of Murry's had gone with Hansen to a party. They left the party because they had gotten into a fight. As they were pulling out of the driveway, Hansen said, [L]ight `em up. At that time, Dennis fired the shotgun, and Murry's friend fired a .22-caliber gun out the car windows while a group of people were standing nearby. Second, the day before Savin was killed, Hammett, Dennis, and another friend were driving with Hansen in the Impala when Hammett fired the shotgun at a house. Hammett testified that during the shootings of the previous two nights, the shotgun had been loaded with BB shells. After Hammett fired the last of the BB shells, Hansen told him, [T]hat ain't gonna do nothin' to nobody, so let's go get some slugs so we can do some damage, you know. Hammett stated that on the evening of Savin's shooting, after the group had driven around for about 3 hours, they were driving down 40th Street, near Franklin Street, when they saw some people standing near a streetlight. At that time, Murry, referring to this group of people, said, [T]here go some Trey-Eights right there. They just hit me up. Hammett explained that Trey-Eights was a term used for the 38th Street Bloods. According to Hammett, Murry's reference to Trey-Eights hitting him up meant that someone from the group threw him a gang sign. Hammett testified that in response to Murry's comments, Hansen told the others that it was his turn to blast, meaning his turn to fire the shotgun. Dennis then told Hansen that you can't blast if you're driving, so Hansen and Dennis decided to switch places. Hansen drove a short distance down the street, pulled over, and switched seats with Dennis, so that Dennis was driving and Hansen was in the front passenger seat. Dennis then turned the car around and headed back toward the group standing near the streetlight. At this time, they were driving in the lane nearest to the curb where the group was standing. Hammett stated that as they drove toward the first group, they noticed another group of people on the other side of the street. Murry suggested that they not go through with the drive-by shooting because the people on the other side of the street could shoot back. According to Hammett, even Hansen said, [Y]eah, let's not do it. However, Hammett stated that as they were slowing down and Dennis was making a hand signal to turn left onto Franklin Street, Hansen yelled, What's up, cuz? swung the shotgun out the window, and fired. Hammett testified that the discharged shell hit him when Hansen pumped the shotgun. After Hansen fired the shotgun once, it apparently jammed, and in Hammett's words, they were mobbin out, or driving away quickly. Hammett explained that What's up, cuz? is a phrase which identifies the speaker as a Crip. According to Hammett, if you see a Blood and you say, What's up, cuz? the Blood will take it as disrespect.