Court upholds gang injunction
By Jessica Langdon
Two times this month, the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth has upheld elements related to criminal convictions stemming from violations of the first gang injunction the city and county took on.
The county and city have now prevailed on all three challenges that have gone through the court, said Kinley Hegglund, senior assistant city attorney for the city of Wichita Falls.
He said the court addressed four major points in the cases. It upheld that prohibiting association among gang members within the specified zone is constitutional, and that it is constitutional to prohibit defendants from flashing gang signs in that area and from wearing gang clothing, he said. The court also agreed the section of the penal code that sets out the criminal penalties for violations of the civil injunction is legal, he said.
“It is simply validation that the VC gang injunction was constitutional, and everything we did was legal,” Hegglund said. “The courts have held up as legal and proper the injunction on all points so far.”
The injunction has been a combined effort among the District Attorney’s Office, the City Attorney’s Office, the Wichita Falls Police Department and the Wichita County Sheriff’s Office, Hegglund said.
“The Wichita County District Attorney’s Office handled the appeal, and they prevailed on all points,” he said.
The appellate court issued an opinion Feb. 5 in the appeal of Maurice Felton Lawson, 19, and another Feb. 12 in the appeal of Mario Rico Martinez, 19. Both are defendants named in the VC injunction, which was
initially filed in 2006. It became a longer-term injunction for a list of defendants in 2007. The injunction defines a 1.54-square-mile safety zone in Wichita Falls and sets forth a list of requirements the defendants must follow in that area. The injunction prohibits gang members from associating with one another, for example, and also places about two dozen restrictions on their activities.
The criminal charge for a violation of the civil injunction is a Class A misdemeanor offense called violation of a court order enjoining organized criminal activity.
Lawson pleaded guilty to one count stemming from a Feb. 20, 2007, incident related to associating with a VC member who was subject to the
injunction, according to court paperwork. He was sentenced to 300 days’
confinement and fined $4,000.
Martinez pleaded guilty to five offenses stemming from violations Dec. 13, 2006, and Jan. 2, Feb. 20, April 25, and Sept. 6, 2007. He received a 305-day sentence and was fined $4,000 on each count.
The first injunction-related appeal to go through the Second Court of Appeals was that of Franco Andre Goyzueta, 20, who was sentenced in 2007 to 300 days in jail.
The court found in favor of the city and county in his appeal, as well. That opinion came in August.
Two of the opinions that have come have been published opinions, which means they can be referred to as precedent, Hegglund said.
Since the VC injunctions began, injunctions have also gone into effect for defendants associated with the Puro Lil’ Mafia criminal street gang.
Reporter Jessica Langdon can be reached at (940) 763-7530 or by e-mail at langdonj(at)TimesRecord News.com.
