Gang Member Gets 9 Years in Hawkins Case : Man, 21, Is Last of 17 Convicted of Terrorizing Watts Businessman’s Family

The last of 17 gang members convicted of terrorizing the family of Watts businessman James Hawkins Sr. was sentenced Friday to nine years and four months in state prison, the longest term given any of the defendants.

Joe Page, 21, of South Los Angeles was found guilty last Jan. 23 of one count of conspiracy and two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling.

The sentencing by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Clarence Stromwall closes only one chapter in the story of the Hawkins’ battle with two gangs based in the Nickerson Gardens housing project.

James Hawkins Jr., 41, is awaiting trial on a murder charge in connection with the Sept. 11, 1983, shotgun death of gang member Anttwon Thomas, 19. The younger Hawkins, who has pleaded innocent, contends that the killing was accidental and occurred during a struggle that ensued after he tried to prevent a robbery.

Death Ignited Violence

Authorities say that it was Thomas’ death that touched off two nights of gang violence against the Hawkins family, owners of a grocery store and arcade on Slater Street at Imperial Highway on the border of Watts and Willowbrook. The senior Hawkins, who is in his 70s, has been in business on the corner for more than 40 years.

The gang attacks were widely covered by the media. At one point, Mayor Tom Bradley and police officials held a press conference at Hawkins’ store to show their support for the embattled family.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Frederick H. Horn, who prosecuted all but one of the cases, said in a recent interview that his office was able to convict 17 of the 20 gang members who were charged largely because of a novel application of the state’s conspiracy law.

“It’s an emerging tool” in gang prosecutions, Horn said. “This is the largest (gang) case we’ve ever used it on, with this many defendants, and it was very effective.”

Conspiracy Counts Credited

Horn credits the conspiracy counts in part with prompting 14 of the gang members to plead guilty before a trial. Three others, including Page, were found guilty after jury trials. Charges against three of the 20 were dismissed on grounds of insufficient evidence.

“I think that once their attorneys explained to them that they didn’t necessarily have to have a gun or do any shooting to be found guilty under these (conspiracy) counts, that had an impact on them,” Horn said. Many of the 17 also were charged with other crimes, including shooting into an occupied dwelling and attempted arson.

Steven L. Lewin, who represented Page, said he believes that the district attorney’s office would probably have won most of the cases even without the conspiracy counts. Lewin said there is a potential for abuse in applying the conspiracy law to gang cases.

“That’s why you have to look at each case individually,” Lewin said. “If one (a conspiracy) does not really exist, then I think it can become a little bit of an abuse.”

Conspiracy Detailed

The conspiracy alleged in the Hawkins case began a few hours after Thomas died, Horn said. According to testimony at the three trials, gang members gathered at a field behind Nickerson Gardens and plotted to attack the Hawkins home--located next to their store--with guns and Molotov cocktails. The first assault took place that night.

The gang attacked the house again the next night--Sept. 12, 1983--with an automobile. When a plan to run the car into the house and then ignite the gasoline tank failed, gang members again began shooting into the home.

Horn said that key testimony during the three trials was offered by Byron D. Deckard, a gang member who was placed on probation after serving 193 days in Los Angeles County Jail. Deckard pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted arson. In exchange for his testimony, the district attorney’s office recommended probation and helped Deckard move out of state.

According to a probation report, Page has a lengthy criminal record, both as a juvenile and an adult. In February, 1984, while an arrest warrant was outstanding against him in the Hawkins case, Page was arrested in an unrelated murder. He subsequently pleaded guilty in that case and is awaiting sentencing in Compton Superior Court.

James Hawkins Jr. is also awaiting trial in connection with two murders unrelated to the gang attacks.