14 charged with murder in case for the record books

The beating of 16-year-old Robert McMorris -- known as a jumping out -- was supposed to free the teenager from a street gang so he could join another rival group, prosecutors say.

When the February 2006 fight at a Banning apartment complex was over, two suspected gang members were shot dead. Fourteen others, including those suspected of firing guns and others there to watch the events unfold, were charged with murder.

In terms of the number of defendants charged with murder, it is the largest murder case in Inland history.

In Riverside County, prosecutors are using the longstanding legal theory of aiding and abetting -- a concept that holds all participants of a crime responsible for the "natural and probable consequences" of their actions -- to seek murder convictions against members of Crips and Bloods gangs who were there when Vincent McCarthy and Demetruis Hunt were killed.

Riverside County prosecutors said they are on solid legal ground. Aiding-and-abetting laws have been used successfully in other gang murder cases, although the circumstances of the Banning killings do not mirror others in which the defendants were charged with murder under that concept, prosecutors said.

Jury selection could begin in January in the first of several trials -- each likely to be held before more than one jury -- that may not finish for six to eight months.

Punishment Criticized

Critics contend the Riverside County district attorney's office has gone too far. They argue the potential punishment is disproportionate to the actions -- such as simply attending the fight -- of some of the defendants. Because the case involves multiple killings, some of the defendants face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

McMorris' uncle, Rocky McMorris, said his nephew was there when the shooting took place, but insisted the teen wanted nothing to do with the gang lifestyle.

"My nephew has never been in any kind of trouble," Rocky McMorris said. "Now he is looking at a lifetime in prison."

The fight against gangs is important, McMorris said, but "they are messing with innocent kids' lives. They should go after real gang bangers."

At least one legal expert believes the aiding-and-abetting theory may apply, but suggested prosecutors will have a hard time convincing jurors that someone standing around watching a fight is just as responsible for those who pull the trigger when gunfire erupts.

"It's a little bit of a stretch," said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor. "It is an interesting application of the law. Just the sheer number of defendants is going to present some issues."

One challenge prosecutors will face is keeping the defendants separate in the minds of jurors.

Another is that some jurors may feel sympathy for the defendants given their young age, between 17 and 30.

"The jurors are going to see these baby-faced kids and they are bound to react," Levenson said.

Supervising Deputy District Attorney Deena Bennett makes no apology for the aggressive approach the office is taking.

"If we don't take a head-on approach in taking on gangs, then we will lose this war," said Bennett, who called the case the most demanding of her 14-year career. "We cannot afford to do that."

Fight Turns Into Shooting

According to court records, the two men were killed during the "jump out" of McMorris from the Young Ass Hustlers. Authorities said the group of friends developed into a criminal street gang under the influence of the Bloods, a well-known street gang whose roots date back to the 1970s.

McMorris wanted out of the gang, court records show, because he did not like the Bloods' influence over YAH and he wanted to join his brother, Vince Bryan Smith, who authorities say is a member of the rival Crips. Under gang rules, a member can end his affiliation with a gang by taking a beating from others within the group. The same method is used to bring a new member into the gang, referred to a "jump in."

Smith, who will turn 27 this month, arranged with several Bloods members to jump out McMorris, according to the court records, and the two sides met at an East Williams Street apartment.

During the beating, McMorris fell to the ground, prompting Smith to yell a profanity and pull out a gun, according to court records. Bennett said investigators believe at least three people fired guns during the melee. McCarthy, a 33-year-old Beaumont resident, and La Quinta resident Hunt, 18, were shot several times and died.

Banning police officers made the first arrests within days of the killings. The final arrest came months later when Julian Allen McKee, then 30, was taken into custody in his brother's home in Texas. Investigators found two handguns, about $100,000 in cash and more than a kilogram of cocaine in the home. The defense has argued the contraband was in a room that McKee did not have access to.

Witnesses Threatened

Unlike most gang cases, prosecutors said they have witnesses willing to testify, even at risk to their own lives.

"We had witnesses threatened in court," she said.

One witness, 15-year-old Demontre Carroll, was killed in a shooting outside his Las Vegas home last month, where he was moved by prosecutors as part of a witness relocation program. Bennett requested a two-month continuance to investigate whether the Las Vegas killing was related to the Banning case. Several defense attorneys opposed the delay and said there is no evidence linking the two cases.

One witness was assaulted by the sibling of a defendant, prosecutors said in court records, and others were threatened in person and by voice mail.

Legal Theory

The concept of aiding and abetting has been used for decades for a variety of criminal cases, including white-collar thefts, organized crime and gang killings.

In gang prosecutions, the murder charge generally has been used when a suspect is accused of using a gun or other weapon or having knowledge that the weapon was going to be brought to the confrontation or crime.

For example, the driver of a car carrying other gang members to a robbery that ends in the killing of the victim could be charged with murder under the aiding and abetting theory.

In the 1990s, the killing of a 15-year-old Riverside teenager led to the prosecution of 32 people, including 11 East Side Riva members. Some were convicted of murder but many were charged with lesser offenses such as conspiracy, said Ingrid Wyatt, spokeswoman for the Riverside County district attorney's office.

In San Bernardino County, 11 men were arrested in connection with the killing of 11-year-old Mynisha Crenshaw in November 2005. Authorities have said the defendants thought they were retaliating against a rival gang when they fired more than 30 rounds into a San Bernardino apartment. Mynisha was killed, and her sister, Jaynita McWilliams, then 14, was wounded.

In the Banning case, prosecutors contend all those in attendance, regardless of their gang affiliation, knew there was a likelihood that violence would break out.

"Each had their role to play," Bennett said. "Even those who were not carrying a weapon. They were there to show power and intimidation."

Attorney Peter Scalisi, representing one the defendants in the Banning case, called the prosecution of his client and others a "perversion" of a law that was meant to punish those with specific knowledge that a crime was going to take place.

"They are twisting and turning the law, molding it to fit what they want," Scalisi said. "It's like a rubber band, ready to snap."

Scalisi said his client, Lavert Littleton, 20, went to the gathering to watch a fight and did not know there would be gunfire. Scalisi described Littleton as a former gang member.

"Basically they were there to watch a fist fight, and now they are looking at a lifetime behind bars," he said. "That seems grossly disproportionate to the conduct in the case."

In December 2006, a judge dismissed potential death-penalty enhancements against six of the 14 defendants. The ruling came after a five-week preliminary hearing in which the judge had to decide whether there was enough evidence to warrant a trial. Under the law, anyone charged with multiple murders can face the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole.

Bennett, the prosecutor, said she did not agree with the ruling, but pointed out that the judge upheld the murder counts against all the defendants. So far, she said, she has not sought the death penalty against the eight still eligible for the punishment.

Jared Lewis, director and founder of Know Gangs, a Wisconsin-based group that helps train police agencies about gangs, said the number of defendants in the Banning case is unprecedented, but believes prosecutors are on solid ground.

Lewis said each person there had an individual role in the crime, and compared the gang to the operators of a grocery store. The checker cannot sell goods if the stocker does not keep the shelves full. Maintenance workers keep the store clean and security personnel keep the peace in the store and outside.

"Without everyone doing their job, the store will fail," he said. "It's the same in the gang: Everyone must do their job or the gang will fail."