Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys Know Gang Expert, Dr. James E. Shaw

[BIO AND PHOTO APPEAR BELOW]

Today, there are 1,000,000 gang members in the United States. They are individuals, they are active, and males and females comprise their ranks. The U.S. Army currently has 1.5 million trained and battle-ready soldiers. According to the FBI, gangs are increasing in number in and among the U.S. armed forces. There are currently some 8,000 gang members in the armed forces of the United States, the majority being in the Army. Gang presence in the country's military forces is a fact. The FBI says that every gang in the U.S. is represented in the military, the difference being in size and number. Do you think gangs in the military have the same sense of patriotism and national security as do their non-gang counterparts? Gang presence in the military compromises the honor of the armed services and weakens the nation's defense. Said another way, should the Statue of Liberty shed a tear and look upon gangs in the military with shame and revulsion? What about us? What should our response be?

The FBI says that Al-Qaeda is viewing gangs in the U.S. military with deep interest. Why? Because a gangsta' (the street term) fulfills al-Qaeda's four-point profile criteria: (1) the gangsta has deep feelings of alienation and anger, usually due to not having or knowing his father; (2) the gangsta yearns for a sense of achievement to fulfill his feelings of emptiness; (3) the gangsta longs for a father-figure from whom he can take orders--the direction he missed in his childhood years; and (4) the gangsta wants to be well-paid (money) so he can show off his bling (ostentatious jewelry), as proof, reward and recognition of his achievement. Al-Qaeda identifies with the gangsta's mindset and respects it as being of value and equivalent to the A-Qaeda mind. The gangsta and Al-Qaeda operate on the same paradigm. Al-Qaeda has no shortage of money to substitute for the gangsta's unquenchable thirst for adoration, respect, kudos, and self-fulfillment.

I have done work for military defense lawyers (Judge Advocates General) at West Point Military Academy and in the United States Navy. But if gangs are growing in number and, presumably, in strength in the nation's military and in communities across the country, why is a Gang Expert needed to assist lawyers in trials involving alleged gangs? Isn't a duck a duck no matter whatever else you call it? According to the reasoning of many people, including court jurors and military prosecutors, isn't the fact that gangs are growing enough reason to try and convict an alleged gang member standing trial in criminal court or facing adjudication in juvenile court?

Alleged gang members, as do we all, have the inalienable right to a full and fair court trial. That is a legal hallmark that separates and distinguishes United States courts from the guilty-until-proven-innocent paradigm on which courts in most of the world's countries operate. Following are just some of the reasons Criminal Defense Attorneys need a Gang Expert to help them to achieve their client-objectives in court.

1. Police often "mis-hear" and "re-translate" what a gang suspect tells them about his or her affiliation: The common testimony police officers make in court is "I made a consensual contact with Joe Gangster and he said he's a member of XYZ gang." Defendants frequently tell me that they were either pressured by the arresting officer to admit being in the gang or they admitted growing up with known gangbangers and going to school with them--and that's all. A Gang Expert, through skillful interviewing of neighbors, school administrators, and employers, can verify or refute purported affiliations. Often, a Gang Expert is very knowledgeable about the gang in question, as well as familiar with its members, as well as thoroughly knowledgeable about its rivals.

2. Police often testify that "common knowledge" is what confirms their suspicion about and allegation that a defendant is a gang member and the crime for which he is being tried was done specifically at the behest of the gang, to enhance the gang's stature, and inspire fear in and exercise control over the community. A Gang Expert can aid the Criminal Defense Attorney by analyzing police documentation of the gang's past violations and, specifically, noting whether or not the defendant has been named in any incident reports or cited in Field Interview Cards (F.I.C.s). I had a gang case, in Sacramento Superior Court, where the police officer stated he never profiled my client, a female defendant, but that he "could have." The prosecutor argued with me that "could have" was enough proof that my client was in fact a gang member and her having GSR (gunshot residue) on her hand was further proof that the act she was alleged to have committed was done for the benefit of her gang.

I responded that "could have" was so far removed from the criteria the Sacramento Police Department uses to profile gang members, that it cast reasonable doubt as to whether the officer had sufficient training and even suggested his own confusion. I further stated that against Sacramento Police Department's eleven-point criteria for profiling a gang member, the police officer failed to testify as to which criteria, exactly, framed his sophomoric "I could have profiled her, if I'd wanted to." I told the prosecutor the police officer had not finished his job. "I could have profiled her" is a defective testimony and only suggested the officer's dereliction of duty. The judge threw the case out of court and released my client with no prison term or probation.

3. Some police officers magnify their gang expertise to show their "best side" to the jury, having already won the prosecutor's heart (most prosecutors use only police officers as their gang experts--could this be because (a) police officers have a natural prosecutorial bias? or (b) police officers and prosecutors are paid out of the same county budget, their checks signed by the same budget chief?). In a court in which I frequently work, a police officer identified himself as "Head of the Black Gang Unit." The court reporter dutifully typed this into the transcript. In a conference with the attorney representing our client, I complained that such identification would prejudice the jury toward guilt. I explained that the jury would see an African-American police officer introduce himself as "Head of the Black Gang Unit" and then proceed to state how he happened to arrest the African-American defendant, my client. The jury would subconsciously figure who better to know an African-American defendant on trial than an African-American police officer? Reasonable doubt would go out the window and the jury's view of my client would be tainted.

Further, I explained, such an introduction as the officer used begs the question about his competence and qualifications. If he is the head of the "African-American Gang Unit," what would happen to his job if the police department experienced budget declines? Would he be laid off or terminated because of a decision that he could work only with or among African Americans rather than as an equal opportunity, full-service police officer able to serve the entirety of the city? Moreover, I pointed out, such an introduction of himself as "Head of the Black Gang Unit" is a racist statement that ought to have been protested just as the Italian-American community protested the use of "Cosa Nostra" during the Senate Racketeering Hearings on Organized Crime during which Mafia lieutenant Joe Valachi "sang like a canary," according to the attorney general."Cosa Nostra" is a term no longer allowed in a court of law. Likewise, since there are other ethnicity-based gangs as well as multi-racial lawbreakers, "Head of the Gang Unit" should have been what the officer said, not "Head of the Black Gang Unit."

I have just touched on a mere few areas in which I can materially help an attorney defending a client on gang-allegation charges. There are many other ways in which I can aid and abet an attorney's client-objectives, as well as reasons for employing me as a Gang Expert. In addition to providing court testimony throughout the United States, I consult with attorneys, in both the Civil and Criminal bars, provide litigation support, and write preliminary as well as full and complete case opinions. Using my expertise can result in an efficient, economical, and easy strategy for winning your client's case. Gangs are growing throughout the country and in the military. Therefore, those of us in the defense bar need to increase our defensive and Constitutional strategies, in order to address the increasing vulnerability of juries to prosecutors' arguments about gangs, their growth and our defendants' alleged roles in both. No matter the growth on the "gang tree" the nation's prosecutors hold up to jurors, my objective in court is to separate and distinguish my gang-alleged clients from allegations that they are branches on that tree. I am grateful and honored for my success in helping attorneys achieve their Constitutional goals for clients.

I can be reached at 310-678-6950 or courtexpert@gmail.com. I look forward to working with you to help you achieve your case objectives.