Court Upholds Sentences in Gang Beating

A state appeals court upheld the prison sentences of two Sonoma County teenagers who beat a 16-year-old nearly to death for wearing the colors of a rival gang.

Jose Juan Madrid, 17 at the time, and Thomas Galvan Jr., 15, were convicted of assault and robbery in the May 1996 attack on Dylan Katz in Windsor.

Katz, testifying from a wheelchair, said he was walking his dog while wearing a red sweatshirt when a youth got out of a car and asked what gang colors he was claiming. He said, “Nothing,” and the youth replied “Wrong answer” and started beating him.

He was in a coma for 10 weeks and suffered brain damage.

Both youths were tried as adults. Madrid, who had long-standing brain damage, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Galvan, his second cousin, got 10 years.

The 1st District Court of Appeal upheld their convictions and sentences, including two-year terms for crimes committed in association with a gang. Under the law, a sentence can be increased if a crime was related to a gang.

The court said the evidence was enough to show gang activity, rejecting a Fresno appellate court’s ruling last year that required proof of crimes by the gang in the past.

That case will probably be appealed to the state Supreme Court to resolve the disagreement between the two appellate panels.