In 2014, prosecutors even attempted to strip the Mongols of their trademarked logo (a Genghis Khan-like figure wearing sunglasses and riding a motorcycle). For a rock solid case he needed a confession. Until then, his job was to use his rifle to cover the window protecting the team from potential threats inside the home. According to the California State Bar public records, Esqueda faced private reproval in 2001 for failure to respond to client inquiries, failure to promptly release a client file, and failure to keep a client informed of significant developments. Beanbag shot is considered less lethal ammunition its meant to incapacitate the target. In contrast, the Deputy DA ultimately assigned to the case was the attorney equivalent of a high school starting quarterback. When he spoke with members of the Pomona Police Department, love and support radiated from their ranks, but underneath a righteous anger brewed: outrage aimed at the man who killed Shaun Diamond. A stand out in the series of officers was Jim Moss, the SWAT paramedic who treated Shaun Diamond immediately after he was shot. This tragedy fit the silent film that plays on the wall of the American subconscious. Moss described the bloody trauma to Diamonds airway, his words seeped in loss as he made eye contact with every juror. Shocked and confused he shouted Im sorry. On the stand, Mr. Santillan called the claims about his daily meetings with Mr. Ciccone an absolute lie. (He acknowledged encountering Mr. Ciccone by chance at a Starbucks near the courthouse once during the trial.). He promised he'd put his infidelities behind him, get sober and be a better father. May 10, 2010 We Offer Fast, Professional, discreet Bail Bond Services But Sullivan asserted that amidst that storm his client had acted in self defense: he shot to protect his family. He worried about his kids. Now the Mongols want a new trial and say their former president, David Santillan, was a confidential informant for the ATF. He used gang slang, talked about tattoos and encouraged Martinez to talk about the Mongols. Michael Tyrone Delaney for The New York Times. Diamonds team was tasked with serving a search warrant to a house inhabited by David Martinez, an alleged member of the Mongols Motorcycle Club. Sullivan shut his laptop and gave Martinez a nod. While Sullivan began assembling his case, Martinez communicated with his parents, Arturo and Guadelupe. The current president of the Mongols Motorcycle Club is David Santillan, a man who claims that the organization has changed its code of conduct to exclude drug abusers and criminals. David Martinez struggled to contain his emotions as he watched his wife raise her right hand to take her oath. It was clear from the outset that the trial would not be amicable. Detective Lugo attended the proceedings, paying his respects to the fallen officer. Martinez told the jury that after the dust settled, he was confused because his parents were so adamant that the officers shot their own man. As the dead of night gave way to dawn, Detective Ray Lugo arrived on the scene. The current president of the Mongols Motorcycle Club is David Santillan, a man who claims that the organization has changed its code of conduct to exclude drug abusers and criminals. 1,120 following. Last Name, The Trials of Harvey Weinstein and Danny Masterson. On October 28, 2014, in San Gabriel, California, Mongols member David Martinez allegedly shot and killed Pomona Police SWAT Team member Shaun Diamond. He was forceful in his statements, never wavering in voice or message: the embodiment of the strength and resolve of the law. Jack Garden called Sandra Roman to the stand. The Mongols claimed that Mr. Santillan had an inappropriate working relationship with an A.T.F. Moss and his partner loaded Diamond into the ambulance and drove off towards Huntington Memorial Hospital, sirens blaring as they left the active crime scene behind them. Ever since David Santillan became the club president, in 2015, things have taken a better turn and it is said that now their unlawful activities have stopped. And on the night or morning when you saw him in the office he was high on methamphetamine, correct? Sandra responded quietly. Catalog; For You; Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Pacing before the jury, Sullivan explained that the evening of October 28, 2014 was a perfect storm in which a series of unexpected circumstances came together and resulted in tragedy. According to Sandra, David Martinez loved his Mongol brothers. She told the court that Martinez association with the Mongols upset her. Under the glow of street lamps, the officers feet pounded the pavement, executing practice runs for maximum efficiency. He didnt know it was the police didnt see them and didnt hear them. Later in the morning, Detective Lugo received a somber phone call: Officer Shaun Diamond was dead. The rest of the SWAT team searched the home. I thought you were the Mongols. When Esqueda cross-examined the witnesses he floundered. By the time the Martinez family arrived there wasnt enough room for them to sit. Then he took his questions one step further. When the movements were drilled into their bones, the squad packed up and headed to their target location. The tapes were garbled and filled with overlapping discussions that would have to be meticulously picked apart. Communications with Mr. Santillan, Mr. Ciccone said, were limited to such matters as ensuring public safety at Mongols events. David Santillan informants Mongols Motorcycle Club racketeering U.S. District Judge David O. Carter Follow Law&Crime: Next Post A graduate of the University of Oregon, Meghann worked at The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, and the Idaho Statesman in Boise, Idaho, before moving to California in 2013 to work at the Orange County Register. Do inmates sometimes lie because they know theyre being recorded? he asked. Martinez didnt mind it made it easier to help his aging parents. Mongols MC Chief Little Dave Santillan Was Not A Snitch 5 months ago Scott Burnstein You are unauthorized to view this page. The agitated rhythm of Martinezs life in jail was punctuated by court dates. It seemed possible that his parents were right. Most importantly, Esqueda agreed with the family that David didnt shoot Shaun Diamond; the officers death was an accident caused by friendly fire. Inside the door on the evening of October 28, 2014, thirty-six-year-old termite inspector David Martinez was working on inspection reports in the study. Chaos erupted. It was his bullet that stuck his fathers arm and blew through the officers neck. When Sandra came to visit Martinez in jail, he put on a brave face, assuring her that Sullivan was going to get him out. David Martinez watched the ambulance leave from the back of a cop car. It had taken weeks for the prosecutors to paint David Martinez as a hardened gang member but now the portrait was vivid. The evidence and the full force of the state were mounted against him and his lawyer was suspiciously absent, difficult to contact, and abrupt in his correspondence. In order to defend their area and protect the club's reputation, the Mongols are known to perpetrate violent acts such as assault, intimidation, and murder on a regular basis. After his incarceration, Mongols Club members voted for his removal from office in 2008. Martinez lived in a two bedroom, Spanish style, stucco home with his parents, his sister, Brenda, who has Down syndrome, his wife, Sandra, and their two young children, Alyssa and David Jr. He cant protect me, he told me, so we have to have an exit strategy, he told me, Mr. Santillan, who sounded drunk and sounded distraught, said to her. Sullivan only needed to prove that the banging on the gate, the barking of dogs and the physical chaos of the scene made it impossible for Martinez to identify the cops. Garden clicked his pen with satisfaction as Noyola noted that Martinez mentioned being concerned about informants in the transit vehicle. The Mongols claimed in their motion for a new trial that Mr. Santillan had an inappropriate working relationship over the years with the lead A.T.F. Diamond was known as a devoted officer and a family man. He wanted to watch his children grow up and he was willing to do anything to make that happen, even if it meant confronting the horrific truth. The lawyer appeared to be a Godsend. Disappointed by the courts rulings, Sullivan remained resolute, diving head-first into developing his defense. Their friction fueled emotional outbursts, raised voices and impassioned arguments. A police informant (known as AV) also entered the holding cell dressed as an inmate and attempted to cajole David into bragging about shooting a cop. Several years after a jury deemed the Mongols a criminal organization, the club's attorneys have in recent months alleged that former Mongols president David Santillan was a government "rat . The drugs and the partying had gotten old. With all this responsibility weighing on Sullivans shoulders, he arrived at counsels table for pre-trial motions. Garden nodded at Sandras explanation. One of the clubs defense lawyers during the original trial, Stephen Stubbs, testified that Mr. Santillan had told him during the trial that he was regularly meeting with Mr. Ciccone as the proceedings were going on, even as he was overseeing the clubs defense team. Corporal Richard Aguiar and Officer Diamond breached the outer metal security door of the home with a push-pull device called a ripram. Diamond turned to discard the device as someone inside the home opened the inner, wooden door. Noyola was meticulous. He needed Martinez to state that he knew police were on his porch and that he shot his gun intending to kill. This case was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Courts, Pasadena Courthouse located in Los Angeles, California. He also denied that he ever helped Mr. Santillan win lenient treatment in his brushes with the law, which included a crash in his Mercedes five years ago while driving impaired. There were cracks in their case and he would find them. Yes. She recounted that Martinez was hyperactive and sweating. Except for David Martinez. First Name She informed him that his father was doing well after having surgery to repair the bullet wound on his arm. In court testimony and in an earlier interview, Ms. Santillan said she had shared the video and the text with the Mongols in an attempt to destroy her husband but had since regretted it; she said she was not being truthful when she claimed he had been an informant. She added that David's mistress had been. He thought it was the Mongols. His lips tightened as he observed the damage: Diamond had sustained a shot in the back of the head that severed his spinal cord, carotid artery, and jaw. Lifting Martinezs motorcycle jacket from a cardboard evidence box, Kozlowski testified regarding every patch on the leather garment. Then he began speaking about the A.T.F. 2,525 posts. He believed in his case and his client but the question remained how could he convince a jury to not convict a man who shot a cop? . Now Sullivan and Martinez would have to account for each of those moments. Is that right? Sandra hesitated, delicate in her response. Second, police found a shotgun slug casing inside the Martinez living room, meaning that the shot that killed Shaun Diamond was fired from inside the house. At the core of the case was a video of a conversation between Mr. Santillan and his wife that she had passed on to members of the biker club last year, accompanied by a text message in which she told them that her husband had been a confidential government informant. A retrial was scheduled to begin in February of 2020, but was continued until fall of 2020 in order to provide the defense with more time to interview potential witnesses. The coroners report showed that Diamond was shot in the back of the neck. On the third stop, Noyola himself entered the operation, determined to extract the information that the less experienced officers had failed to obtain. Talking to reporters he said, the patch is like a ring in a marriage, it symbolizes our loyalty and commitment. Ultimately, the Mongols retained rights to their emblem under free-speech laws, but the ATF continued to pursue other means of eliminating the Mongols brotherhood. She added that David's mistress had been harassing her. His Respect Few Fear None patch meant that he assaulted a rival gang member. John told me that I have one year, one year, David said during the call. He promised he'd put his infidelities behind him, get sober and be a better father. In the video, Santillan mentioned that the lead agent in the RICO case, John Ciccone, had protected him over the years. Below the judges bench, bun-headed clerks typed furiously on their computers and in the gallery attorneys communed with anxious family members who wiped tears away with their shirtsleeves. He started to believe them because he desperately wanted it to be true. She added that she didnt understand what David was talking about in relation to Ciccone. David Santillan currently lives in Temple City, CA; in the past David has also lived in Arcadia CA and South Pasadena CA. Judge Rejects Claim That Mongols Biker Club Leader Was a Rat, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/us/mongols-informant.html. As funeral proceedings carried on in Ontario, Sullivan was hard at work on Davids case, sorting through discovery sent from the DAs office. ABC is reporting that the Feds are still going after their patch. Evidence of that internal monologue did not exist. He called off the operation and Martinez was taken to his cell. PressReader. How many times did you announce yourself? On the final day of testimony, Sullivan walked into the courtroom bleary-eyed but beaming. On Thursday, after hearing testimony from more than a dozen witnesses, including from Mr. Santillan himself, over the past several months, Judge David O. Carter of the Federal District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., found that there was no convincing evidence of such a claim and refused to set aside racketeering and conspiracy convictions as well as a penalty of $500,000. It was fear of repercussions that kept him in the Mongols grasp. At David Martinezs arraignment, he peered through the shining bars of the defendant holding dock and squinted at the occupants of the fluorescent-lit courtroom. He wanted to be absolved of Shaun Diamonds death entirely. One of those residences was the home of David Martinez. The Mongols are relying on an explosive video shared by Mr. Santillan's wife, Annie Santillan, who, during a stretch when she was angry with her husband over his infidelity, had her daughter record a conversation in which he appeared to refer to protection he had received from the A.T.F. Justice would be served. On cross-examination Jack Garden sauntered around the lectern. By this time, Sullivan was fuming. I dont find theres sufficient cooperation to merit overturning the conviction, Judge Carter said in a ruling from the bench. And it wasnt usual for him to be up at 3am. If convicted David Martinez could face the death penalty. Closing arguments began the following day. Now, officials have charged four of the gang members, identified as 49-year-old William Nelper ("Flip"), 27-year-old William Boylston ("JC"), 43-year-old Jason Meyerholz ("Country"), and. 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