Opinion ID: 2641038
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Trece Conducts Business

Text: ¶34 Petitioners argue that “there is no evidence in the record of Trece transacting business” and that the County conceded that “Ogden Trece exists only as a criminal organization.” They contend that criminal organizations do not “transact business” but rather commit crimes. We disagree. There is no logical reason why business transactions and criminal activity are mutually exclusive. ¶35 In interpreting the language of a clear and unambiguous statute or rule, “our duty is to give effect to [its] plain meaning.” State ex rel. Z.C., 2007 UT 54, ¶ 11, 165 P.3d 1206. The caveat is that “a court should not follow the literal language of a statute if its plain 10 Cite as: 2013 UT 62 Opinion of the Court meaning works an absurd result.” Savage v. Utah Youth Village, 2004 UT 102, ¶ 18, 104 P.3d 1242. ¶36 “Business” is defined as “a particular occupation or employment habitually engaged in for livelihood or gain.” BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY 226 (9th ed. 2009); see also id. (“By extension, transactions or matters of a noncommercial nature .”); WEBSTER’S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY 302 (a “particular field of endeavor,” or “an immediate task or objective”). There is nothing in the definition requiring that the occupation or employment be legal,1 and there are ample findings by the district court to support the conclusion that Trece satisfies the definition. It “obtain[s] money through many different type[s] of illegal activities, from selling drugs to trafficking in stolen property.” The gang’s revenue is generated through “criminal activity such as burglaries, thefts, robberies, drug dealing, etc.” Additionally, once the money is “earned,” it is then distributed to other gang members. ¶37 These findings by the district court were supported by ample evidence. Testimony during the evidentiary hearing demonstrated that Trece has a remarkably organized structure and governance. Gang members know who the “shot callers” are in any given area. There is a hierarchy within the gang that administers discipline and puts out orders for “work.” It is the “shot caller’s” responsibility to make “sure that everybody’s paid, everybody’s got money, [and] everybody is doing good.” Most of the stolen goods and money earned from drugs is given to the senior members, but the individuals who steal the goods or sell the drugs keep a certain portion. The “shot caller” keeps a portion of the profits for himself and the remaining profit is retained for the use of the gang in order 1 See also J.M. & M.S. Browning Co. v. State Tax Comm’n, 154 P.2d 993, 996 (Utah 1945) (stating that what constitutes transacting business must be determined within the context in which the phrase is used); Graham v. Davis Cnty. Solid Waste Mgmt. & Energy Recovery Special Serv. Dist., 1999 UT App 136, ¶ 11, 979 P.2d 363 (noting that “as unincorporated associations such as social clubs, religious organizations, environmental societies, athletic organizations, condominium owners, lodges, stock exchanges and veterans began to proliferate, courts recognize[d] that . . . [s]uch groups must . . . [face] liability to suit.” (first alteration in original)(emphasis omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted)). 11 WEBER CO. v. OGDEN TRECE Opinion of the Court to pay for lawyers, to support families, and to pay for other general expenses. ¶38 This evidence satisfies the requirement of rule 17(d) and there is no need for us to depart from the plain meaning of the rule. See Savage, 2004 UT 102, ¶ 18. There is no reason why an unincorporated association should be immune from suit simply because the business in which it engages is unlawful. Under Petitioners’ proposed interpretation of the rule, a criminal organization would be immune from suit simply because the business it transacts is illegal. But it would be illogical to interpret rule 17(d) in a manner that allows organizations that operate illegally to escape suit when such organizations are exactly the kind of enterprise on which the justice system should be brought to bear.