Verdicts Met With Praise and Criticism

Tears and smiles. Anger and cries of bias.

A second-degree murder conviction Thursday against two teen-agers in the paint roller spearing death of Steve Woods provoked strong reaction in a case that had already touched a nerve in Orange County, sparking rallies against gang violence and claims of racial divisions.

Outside the courtroom, Woods’ mother, Kathy, said she was satisfied with the verdict, especially the judge’s finding of gang involvement in the case that could add more time to the teens’ prison terms.

“We need to stop these gangs from controlling our streets,” she said. “We can’t go for an evening stroll anymore. We have to get some deterrents to prevent it from getting to this point. That’s really my message. That’s what I pray for.”

But others decried the verdicts as an injustice for Julio Perez Bonilla, 18, and Hector Penuelas, 17, the two Latino defendants convicted of second-degree murder and nine other felonies for their roles in the death of the white youth.

Arturo Montez of the League of United Latin America Citizens said he hopes the verdicts will be appealed.

“My concern is how quickly the court system moves to incarcerate Latinos,” he said. “I think the whole court system is one-sided and lopsided. Justice is definitely colored behind the Orange Curtain.”

As they waited for the verdicts, the friends and family of the teen-agers on trial huddled in prayer. After Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey had declared Bonilla and Penuelas guilty on all charges, family members rushed from the courtroom.

His eyes brimming with tears, Bonilla’s father said he did not want to speak about the verdict. Neither did other family members.

Bonilla and Penuelas were among six defendants charged in the death of the 17-year-old San Clemente High School student.

Woods was a passenger in a vehicle that was pelted by bottles, rocks, beer cans, blocks of wood and other items including the paint-roller rod that lodged in his head as the vehicle was driven toward the only exit at Calafia Beach County Park in San Clemente.

Friends of Woods testified that they were trying to flee the beach and did nothing to provoke the confrontation. The defendants said they threw items in self-defense because they thought they were going to be run over.

On Thursday, Shellie Woods, the victim’s sister, said she was afraid the judge would go along with the defense request for leniency.

“I’ve been waiting for so long,” she said, tears in her eyes. “I was really relieved when I heard (the verdict). I want them to rot.”

The verdict also brought an emotional response from Glo Scharringhausen, whose son Paul was with Woods that night.

“This is going to send a message to all teen-agers, good and bad, that crime doesn’t pay,” said Scharringhausen.

But Latino leaders who have criticized the handling of the case by police, prosecutors and media said the verdict sends a different message.

John Palacio, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund executive director in Orange County, contended that the facts in the Woods case did not merit a second-degree murder conviction.

“We see the issue as one of being self-defense,” Palacio said. “One incident that occurred in the spur of the moment in the heat of passion.”

Palacio contended that investigations by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office were suspect due to the tenacity of authorities in labeling the Latino defendants as “gang members.” Yet, when the suspects are white and the victim is a member of a minority, Palacio said, there is no similar outcry.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary Paer, however, said race played no role in the case. He said the uproar overlooks the real victim: Steve Woods.

“I think it’s absurd to say race had anything to do with this case,” Paer said. “They would have been prosecuted if they were black or white. This issue is what they did that night. We would have prosecuted whoever was responsible. This crime did not commit itself.”

Paer said the defendants are not unfairly being labeled gang members. He said gang graffiti was found in the home or vehicles of several defendants in the case, and noted that Penuelas and several other defendants readily admitted gang membership or association.

Paer said his office has been stepping up its use of gang membership allegations to enhance sentences in the wake of spiraling gang violence.

He added: “I hear this about treating these guys unfairly, and I think, ‘What about Steve Woods?’ ”