San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera came up against quite an army of local attorneys in his latest quest for two more gang injunctions. In the latest development, he’s come out on top.
Superior Court Judge Patrick Mahoney granted Herrera’s order (.pdf)to show cause against the Mission-based gang known as Norteño on Friday — but not without some tweaking of Herrera’s proposition. Eight of the 32 people listed by the city attorney as Norteños had attorneys and fought the injunction as intervenors. Here are some of the changes that defense attorneys are citing as small victories:
- Two people were removed because the judge found there was not enough “clear and convincing evidence” that they were gang members. (Public Defender Jeff Adachi represented one of them and joked at a press conference today that the only reason his nickname was “fat tone” was because he weighed 300 pounds).
- Under the stipulation that forbids gang signs and symbols and red clothing, Mahoney narrowed the language by specifying exactly what those were. He also made an exception for wearing red if red happened to be on a work uniform.
- The judge also eliminated the city attorney’s request to prohibit alcohol consumption
- Instead of implementing a curfew, the judge included a “no loitering” provision that’s in effect between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. (Interestingly, a Southern California appellate court struck down a curfew provision today in a 2005 Ventura County Superior Court order granting a permanent injunction against the gang known as Colonia Chiques).
Judging from a statement Herrera’s office issued today, they don’t seem to be issues he’ll be pushing.
“I’m extremely gratified that the court has granted this preliminary injunction,” Herrera said. “Judge Mahoney carefully considered an enormous amount of evidence, asked tough questions of both sides, and issued an injunction that will help protect public safety, and aid the efforts of police and prosecutors to quell gang violence in the Mission.”
What’s missing from the Oct. 12 order, however, is Mahoney’s explanation of what he considered enough evidence to oust the two people from the list.
“That’s the problem,” said Adachi, stressing the need for a process of identifying what exactly constitutes a gang member. “It’s not a ten-part test. It’s pretty arbitrary.”
— Millie Lapidario
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