Gang Members Repaint : Angry at Graffiti, Judge Throws the Brush at Them

A judge in San Fernando found gang graffiti on the walls of a courthouse holding cell not long ago and decided to give the culprits a brush-up on etiquette.

When they showed up Friday for sentencing, he provided them with paint, brushes and soap.

“This is a new court building, and I’ve been assigned to this department since day one,” Superior Court Judge John H. Major said afterward. “I want it to stay new.”

Sharpened Screwdrivers

The cleaning supplies went to Michael Munoz, 20, of North Hollywood and Paul Zamora, 22, of San Fernando, who were in court to be sentenced for using sharpened screwdrivers to threaten people in a parking lot.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Vickye Mitchell said they had scratched and penned the name of their gang, and their own nicknames, on the jail’s walls one afternoon as they waited for their trial to get under way.

“The irony of it is, these guys keep telling us they are not in a gang,” Mitchell said. “Then we put them in a perfectly clean lockup, leave them for a few minutes, come back, and the walls are covered with this stuff.”

Rather than file formal charges against the pair for misdemeanor vandalism and destroying public property, Major decided the best punishment would be immediate repainting.

“If I make a mess, I clean up after myself,” Major said. “They should too.”

Major arranged for the court’s maintenance contractor to supply paint, dropcloths, buckets of soapy water and brushes. They completed the task within 30 minutes. Their sentencing for assault with a deadly weapon was delayed until later.