Gangbanger (Scoring) – Vocabulary

Gangbanger (Scoring) – Vocabulary

Audio by Paper2Audio

Gangbanger (Scoring) – Vocabulary

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we have heard in the past few days about a case that is sad and that never should have happened. A case where a man's life was ruined because of a ridiculous argument. A clear hate crime. Or is it?

We hear a lot in the news about "Black on black" crimes, where a crime that otherwise would be considered a hate crime, the type of crime committed against a particular group of people and motivated by discrimination, happens between members of the African American community and instead of prosecuting it, the police authorities look the other way.

Hate crimes are very real in the Latino community where anybody from Central America trying to make it to the United States suffers all kinds of abuse while crossing Mexico, from belittling, to robbery, to rape, to extortion, every step of the way. And once they make it to the border, if they succeed at all, the abuse continues either at the hands of the Cartels that control the crossing of the border, charging the families of those seeking to cross the border unfathomable amounts of money, or they will be used as "mules" to bring the drugs that are also controlled by the cartels to "pay" for the privilege to be in the U.S.A.

All these actions are piling up the ill feelings of the Central Americans towards the Mexicans. And though logic tells us that not everyone is part of the Cartels and not everyone is "out to get you," these poor souls have had no exposure to the kind people of Mexico, but only the scum of society.

But let me take you to a different aspect of the case and we will return to tie up this premise of a "Latino on Latino" hate crime.

On January 24, 2023, Victor Valladares, a man of Mexican origin, was listening to music and enjoying a few drinks with his stepsister, Josefa Torres, on the front porch of his residence located on 2453 Santa Fe Street in the city of Portland.

At about 3 45 PM, a Salvadorian passerby, later identified as Daniel Jimenez-Castro, approached them making menacing gestures, known as "throwing gang signs."

He patently, intensely disliked the music that they were playing and told them, and I quote:

"Shut off that fucking music. No one wants to listen to your fucking Mexican rancheras, motherfucker..."

Mr. Valladares was about to start arguing with the man, but Josefa told him that it was better to go inside because this young man obviously was under the influence of some type of substance and, given his physical appearance, he could have some sort of gang affiliation.

She came to this conclusion because his head was shaved, and he had a tear drop tattoo near the left eye that was distinctive of the notorious local gang called Los Vatos Locos, a clique of the infamous Mara Salvatrucha.

Mr. Valladares didn't back down, and Jimenez-Castro left on his skateboard, only to return half an hour later accompanied by two other men of similar appearance: shaved heads, tattoos, baggy clothes, and menacing looks.

When Valladares and Josefa noticed that these men were serious, they turned around and headed toward the house entrance.

This is when the perpetrator, Jimenez-Castro, pulled out a sawed-off shotgun that was concealed in his baggy pants and shot Mr. Valladares three times in the back while yelling:

"...¡Viva la Mara, motherfucker!"

Josefa was terrified and screamed for help.

The three men bolted out of there, leaving behind only the empty shells of the fired cartridges on the floor; the shotgun itself was found hidden under some bushes a couple of blocks from the scene.

One of the neighbors called 911, and an ambulance took Mr. Valladares to the nearest hospital.

After he was examined by the E.R doctor working the evening shift, Josefa was told that Mr. Valladares had suffered a severe spinal cord injury.

Then you heard the testimony of Dr. Isaac Schmith, the orthopedist who treated Mr. Valladares.

The injuries to the nerves caused by the shots to the back were so serious that they severed several nerves responsible for the feeling and control of several fundamental life functions, and so Mr. Valladares will never be able to walk, defecate, or urinate like a normal individual.

He will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

And because of the loss of function of the large intestine, he is bound to use a colostomy bag for the rest of his life, and the same goes for the loss of functionality of his bladder, though those bags are called urostomy bags.

You also heard from the ballistics expert, Mr. Jarred Marks, who testified that the gauge of the pellets used to gun down Mr. Valladares are meant for hunting large animals such as wild boar and deer.

Those shots are very effective at a distance of up to 110 feet using a standard shotgun.

Then why saw off most of the barrel of a perfectly functional shotgun?

To cause major damage.

Let me say that again:

To cause the most damage possible.

The evidence in this case is conclusive.

We have two eyewitnesses who confirmed that Mr. Jimenez-Castro was undoubtedly the gunman.

We also have one additional witness who confirmed that the shotgun used belonged to Mr. Jimenez-Castro because she had borrowed it from him before.

Members of the jury, Mr. Valladares will never be able to support his wife and child due to these injuries.

His life has been shattered.

We have the moral obligation of making sure justice is served.

We also believe that Jimenez-Castro, being Salvadorian, committed this heinous crime against a Mexican man as an act to gain notoriety within the Mara Salvatrucha.

It is a known fact that, to climb up in the hierarchy of M.S-13, one has to commit at least three murders against their foes, making these murders hate crimes.

No matter how horrible the experiences of the Salvadorian people may have been, it does not justify taking justice out of your hands and into your own.

We feel for all those victims of rape, robbery, assaults, and other similar crimes, but our system, as broken as it may be, is a working system.

We respectfully ask that you find Daniel Jimenez-Castro guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and attempted murder with the enhancement of being a hate crime, which, if you do so, will pave the road for the Prosecution to be able to request life in prison without the possibility of a reduced sentence, parole, or early release whatsoever.

Thank you.

You have reached the end of the text.