The boys chose to “take things outside.” Once there, a couple of fights broke out until one of the guys pulled a gun from his backpack and started firing at his attacker and at everyone else in the area.  Two rival gangsters were hit, the participants fled, and the young man who urged the shooter on, became my client.

In preparation for trial, I interviewed him several times. One of the accusations against him was a charge of “crime committed for the benefit of a gang,” a charge in Minnesota that, if found guilty, means a longer prison sentence may be added.

Of course, I talked to my client about his gang involvement. He admitted he’d been a gangster a long time before but since he’d been released from a juvenile program, he decided to get out of the life and start over. He wasn’t a gangster, he told me, and neither was his friend, the alleged shooter.

I have to admit, he was believable. For instance, my client didn’t dress like a gangster, avoided the colors, and the hair cuts. He even looked a little preppy.

Okay, so I went along with his story. After more than 30 years defending crooks, I usually don’t believe much of what they tell me, but this young man seemed convincing.

As we proceeded to trial, I was given all the evidence the prosecutor intended to use against my client. It constituted a pile of paper almost a foot thick–not a good sign if you’re trying to defend someone!

Still, the evidence against him wasn’t the strongest. Maybe, just maybe we could beat the case at trial… Buried deep in the pile were some photos. They intrigued me. I flipped over the pages and stared in horror at copies of Facebook pages.

Not only was the shooter in the photos but so was my client. They were postings from Facebok for each of them. And guess what they were doing on their page? I went to their site.

Each guy was dressed in gang clothing, made gang signs, had what seemed like dozens of guns in the pictures, and smiled as they held up guns and pointed them toward the camera. These guys were really smart and sophisticated…about social media and Facebook.

Audio sound tracks were included that had rap songs glorifying gangsters and videos of each of them threatening the cameras with guns and signs.

At the trial, the prosecutor spent a long time showing the Facebook pages to the jury. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the jury to figure out what was going on and find my client guilty.

Be careful what you post!

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Do I have stories!

Those of us who work in the system often say that no one could make a reality show out of the courtroom dramas…no one would believe them–they’re too real and true!

I remember representing a young man who wanted to be a genuine gangster.  He dressed in color-coordinated gang clothing including expensive shoes, shorts, tank top, and a baseball cap with the tag still attached and turned just-so on his head.  He dipped each shoulder in a pronounced way as he walked.  And he always walked slowly…too cool to move at the normal speed.

His gangster friends made their “licks” by robbing people on the street, sticking-up convenience stores, and “jacking” cars when they could.  All of this activity was dangerous, they were often caught, and the rewards were low.  My client, Demontre, decided to go for the big-time: a jewelry store with lots of expensive items that he could sell on the street.

Once he made this decision, his mistakes started happening.

Mistake No. 1:  He planned to rob a jewelry store at a popular shopping mall on the north side of Minneapolis called Brookdale.  That meant he’d have to not only get out of the store after robbing it, but he’d have to get out of the entire mall also.  He didn’t have time to put together a disguise nor did he put much thought into his equipment–a large, black garbage bag which he’d use to carry the stolen jewels.  To his credit, Demontre made it to the mall, got to the jewelry store, smashed the cases open with a hammer, grabbed as much loot as he could, stuffed it into the garbage bag, and took-off.

Mistake No. 2:  Since he didn’t wear a disguise, the employees who called 911 were able to identify Demontre easily and mentioned the large, black garbage bag.  Demontre got out of the mall, somehow, and escaped into the night.

Mistake No. 3:  Police responded to the 911 call and searched the area around the mall.  They spotted a young man in gang colors dragging a large, black garbage bag that looked like it was heavy.  When the police circled the block, they caught Demontre standing on a curb.

His mistake was simple:  for his getaway car, he planned to use the city bus.  The police arrested him as he stood on the corner waiting for it to come!

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