Opinion ID: 1429633
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Gang Membership or Affiliation

Text: Mathenia asserts that the district court erred in allowing evidence of gang membership or affiliation to be presented. Abuse of discretion is the standard applied when reviewing the admission of gang evidence. State v. Cox, 258 Kan. 557, 562, 908 P.2d 603 (1995). Mathenia acknowledges that the State offered gang evidence to impeach him and his alibi witnesses. Mathenia's counsel argued that it was improper for the State to inquire into gang association when the State gave no pretrial notice that it intended to explore this area and claim that this attack on the officers was gang-related. The State asserts that its sole intent was to use the evidence of gang involvement for impeachment purposes, showing that Mathenia's alibi witness and Mathenia were all associated with the same gang, so it was not necessary to provide pretrial notice. The district court ruled against Mathenia, agreeing that coincidental gang membership between those witnesses and the defendant is a proper subject for impeachment. We agree. The gang evidence presented was relevant to witness bias and credibility, and as in Green, 260 Kan. at 474-75, and Knighten, 260 Kan. at 53-55, the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting this evidence. Affirmed.