Opinion ID: 3171240
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Other evidence at defendant’s 2009 trial

Text: The prosecutor, joined by the lead detective in the Miller shooting, read aloud to the jury a redacted version of the transcript of defendant‘s prior testimony. The prosecution also called several gang expert witnesses who testified regarding defendant‘s past and present gang affiliations, and the history, culture, and activities of White supremacist gangs generally and PEN1 in particular. 7 Eric Kraus, an Orange County parole officer who specializes in supervising White supremacist parolees, was defendant‘s parole officer for about three years, beginning in early 2001. During that time, defendant was a documented associate of the Nazi Low Riders. In May 2001, Kraus arrested defendant for a parole violation and he was returned to custody. About one week later, Kraus and Costa Mesa police Lieutenant Clay Epperson visited defendant in prison at defendant‘s request. Defendant informed Kraus that another prisoner had cut him with a razor on the back of the neck while they were in the exercise yard. Defendant explained that he had been assaulted for previously refusing to follow a ―green light order‖ to kill his friend and prison cellmate Joseph Govey, but that the recent assault meant he would receive no further discipline for his disobedience. According to Kraus, such an order would have come from a ―shot caller‖ in either the Aryan Brotherhood or the Nazi Low Riders prison gang. During Kraus‘s prison visit, defendant indicated to him that his current gang status was with PEN1, ―if anything.‖ Kraus believed that defendant‘s selfreport was confirmed by correspondence intercepted by prison officials, in which defendant identified himself as a member of PEN1. Like Kraus, Lieutenant Epperson expressed the view that defendant was a member of PEN1 at the time of Miller‘s death. In forming that opinion, Epperson pointed to defendant‘s statements during their May 2001 prison visit, his testimony at the Lamb and Rump trial, his prior conviction for dissuading a witness for the benefit of a criminal street gang, recorded telephone calls in which defendant issued orders on behalf of PEN1, and his many PEN1 and White supremacist-themed tattoos. Epperson also provided extensive testimony regarding the history, structure, and culture of White supremacist gangs. He indicated that despite the 8 fact they sport tattoos of Nazi symbols to represent themselves, and are bound together by racial animus, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hatred, White supremacists are not ideologically driven. They tend to prey on their own community with crimes that benefit themselves and the gang, rather than commit hate crimes. The gangs are structured hierarchically, and status within the gang is earned by the amount of crime and violence the member has carried out to benefit the gang. Criminal successes are therefore boasted about and known to other gang members. Respect is an important theme in White supremacist gang culture, and disrespect from gang members and nonmembers alike is met with violence. An act that is viewed as disrespectful of the gang leadership would require even greater sanctions, including being marked for death. The ―payback‖ for disrespecting gang leaders can occur immediately or days, months, even years, later. Focusing more specifically on PEN1, Epperson described the gang‘s history and activities. Formed in 1986 by followers of a punk rock band, PEN1 soon transitioned into a street and prison gang and grew rapidly to fill a power vacuum when the prominence of the Nazi Low Riders began to decline. According to Epperson, PEN1‘s ―stock in trade‖ is ―self-serving thuggery and violence‖ and the gang often targets law enforcement, prison officials, and prosecutors. The gang‘s moneymaking activities include identity theft and drug trafficking, which it carries out with the help of female associates.