Court Reverses Conviction of Three in Gang Killings
An appeals court Thursday reversed the double murder convictions of three men allegedly involved in a gang melee.
Armando Moreno Jr., Poe Meki Taula and Arnold Mendez Jr. were convicted in 1991 of stabbing two men to death and trying to kill a third, all identified as gang members.
A fight lasting less than a minute erupted on the front lawn of a Garden Grove house, according to trial testimony, after a party where alcohol and drugs were used.
The fight began after one of the victims, Hector De La Torre, 24, identified as a member of a predominantly Latino Santa Ana gang, castigated Mendez for being a member of a predominantly black Anaheim gang.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Luis A. Cardenas sentenced the three to prison terms of 40 years to life.
But in a unanimous decision, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that Cardenas allowed prejudicial police testimony about gangs and erred by dissuading two of the defendants from testifying at the trial.
Prosecutors could not be reached to answer whether the ruling will be appealed to the State Supreme Court, or whether the case will be retried.
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