By Ryan Gonzales
On November 4, 2016, Judge Samuel T. McAdam presided over the preliminary examination of Robert Holguin and Javier Moreno, who are both charged with various firearm violations and criminal conspiracy.
The prosecution proceeded with the direct examination of Officer John Perez, of the Woodland Police Department, who was identified by the court as an expert in various criminal gang related activity. Officer Perez told the court of multiple cases where he had successfully identified members of multiple street gangs, such as Vario Bosque Norteños, or VBN, by looking at tattoos of suspects and investigating possible affiliates obtained through social media.
The prosecution then brought out People’s Exhibit 11, which showed the picture of the letter “S” tattooed on the left elbow and the letter “K” on the right elbow of Mr. Moreno. When inquired about the significance of these tattoos, Officer Perez testified that the “S” stood for “Scrap” and “K” stood for “Killer.”
Officer Perez explained to the court that “Scrap” was a slanderous term against the rival gang of the Norteños, the Sureños. When asked if Officer Perez noticed any other tattoos of significance on Mr. Moreno’s body, he stated that the letter “B” stood for Bosque, the Norteño street gang of Woodland.
“If a person has a tattoo, they must answer why or how they got it,” responded Officer Perez when the prosecutor inquired if a person is able to have a tattoo related to a criminal gang, but not be in that gang. Thus, Officer Perez believed the hypothetical situation to be uncommon.
When the prosecution questioned Officer Perez about his opinion of Robert Holguin and Javier Moreno, he stated that he recognized them both from a Facebook photo together with a known VBN member.
The prosecution moved toward a hypothetical scenario to discuss the likelihood that a person unknowingly could be driving a vehicle full of illegally obtained firearms. Officer Perez testified that there is “courtesy” provided a gang member to be prepared if pulled over by a peace officer, or if a rival gang attempts to engage.
Furthermore, the prosecution inquired if it made any significant difference that the person driving the vehicle was not part of the gang. Officer Perez stated, “Trust is huge in a gang. It’s the core foundation…” Also, Officer Perez explained that members participate in criminal activity to build that trust and increase the reputation of their gang.
Ms. Leslie Ramos, who is the defending counselor for Mr. Holguin, conducted the first part of the cross-examination.
Ms. Ramos recalled the incident that took place on November 20, 2015, which involved a transaction of firearms between Mr. Moreno and an undercover agent. Moreover, the person who “brokered” the deal, and was the driver, was a member of Oak Park Bloods street gang (from the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento).
The defense indicated that Officer Perez had stated that gang members of the same gang will participate in criminal activities together in order to promote the gang. So, Ms. Ramos asked Officer Perez if the Bloods gang member and Mr. Moreno were friends, and he responded, “Well, not to be rude, are you going to give a ride to someone you don’t know?”
However, Officer Perez acknowledged that he was not aware of any connection between VBN and Oak Park Bloods.
Ms. Ramos ended the cross-examination by inquiring about Mr. Moreno’s “S” and “K’ tattoos. The defense asked Perez if there was any evidence that Moreno had assaulted or killed a Sureńo. Officer Perez responded no.
The second part of the cross-examination was conducted by Rodney Beede, representing Mr. Moreno. Mr. Beede inquired what factors had more influence on trust, the fact that Mr. Holguin and Mr. Moreno had been best friends since 4th grade or their possibly being part of VBN. Officer Perez stated both.
However, Mr. Beede explained to the the court and to Officer Perez that, if your best friend showed up to your house and asked you to move a closed box to the trunk of his car, would you question what was inside?
At that point, Judge McAdam concluded the cross-examination, as the court ran out of time for the day. The hearing is scheduled to resume on Wednesday, November 16, 2016.
