Recently in Gangs Category

BY MIKE CETERA

It's good to know that (despite the meddling media) Judge Grant Wegner believes defendants -- and a reputed former leader of the Latin Kings in particular -- can still receive a fair trail in Kane County.

Last week Wegner denied a defense motion to move the murder trials of Angel "Doc" Luciano and his son Michael out of the county because of extensive pre-trial publicity.

"You mention the name Luciano and it's difficult to get a fair and impartial trial," (defense attorney John Paul) Carroll argued.

Judge Grant Wegner denied Carroll's motions for both men, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove that the Lucianos could not get a fair trial in Kane County. Wegner said jurors can be pulled from many parts of the county.

"The things that happen in Aurora are unknown to the rest of the county," Wegner said.

Wow. That sure seems like a change of heart from Wegner

BY MIKE CETERA

Here's something nobody is talking about: Shootings are down, way down, in Aurora this year.

Through Wednesday, shootings had dropped by more than 50 percent when compared to the same time period last year, according to Aurora Police Department statistics.

The numbers
25 shootings between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2008
53 shootings between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2007

Those figures put Aurora on pace to record 75 shootings this year. Wow.

BY MIKE CETERA

I've written about Orlando Rivera before, but he continues to be a fascinating figure in the gang cases being brought to trial.

He once again is the key figure in a trial that just opened in Chicago against several members of the Insane Deuces street gang in Aurora.

BY MIKE CETERA

You have to imagine police and prosecutors would have been pretty nervous had a jury found Angel "Doc" Luciano not guilty of murder. After all, they had already lost one of the cold-case trials to an acquittal. But Luciano, the reputed head of Aurora's Latin Kings, was found guilty Thursday by a jury.

What made this case different from the prosecution of George Torres?

BY DAVE PARRO

Aurora police and Kane County prosecutors were dealt a huge blow Wednesday afternoon when their first cold-case murder trial related to the June gang sweep ended in an acquittal.

It took the jury only two hours to decide that George Torres didn't kill Fernando Dieppa in 1997, or at least that there wasn't enough evidence to prove it. There are still 30 defendants awaiting trial in 22 old murders, but this isn't a good start.

Maybe Operation First Degree Burn isn't going to be a "death blow" to the Latin Kings after all.

BY MIKE CETERA

Defense attorneys aren't likely to garner any sympathy over cries that cops are reading their clients' mail. But Kathleen Colton's objection during the first cold-case murder trial about revelations the Kane County Jail has been opening mail for years raises some interesting questions.

Is it legal for jail guards to pilfer inmates' letters? Is there an expectation of privacy among inmates? Should law-abiding citizens care either way?

Here's what Colton had to say about her client, Jose Salinas: "I don't know how much more obvious this could be that this violates Mr. Salinas' rights. You don't give up your rights when you're incarcerated."

Here's what Kane County Sheriff's Office Lt. Pat Gengler said: "By virtue of being in custody they give up certain things. If they don't want to have their phone calls listened to, their mail opened, their visits monitored, they should make a different choice in life."

BY MIKE CETERA

Aurora resident Al Signorelli asks an important, if somewhat loaded, question in comparing the response to Planned Parenthood's new clinic with how the community responds to violence: When will residents show the same passion and become outraged when a young man or woman is slain?

From Signorelli's call to OpenLine:

While (abortion) always elicits passion on both sides, it totally amazes me that crime and violence, our safety, and most importantly that of our children, does not. Where are the protesters when the bullets are flying and people are killed on our streets? What about those lives? Where is the outrage?

BY DAVE PARRO

Despite some conflicting testimony, shady witnesses, and no murder weapon or physical evidence, a Kane County jury this afternoon delivered a guilty verdict in the first of Aurora's cold-case murders.

The conviction of Jose Salinas in a 2000 gang shooting bodes well for prosecutors, who still have the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in 22 other old murder cases still on the docket. They will have the same difficult task in convicting the other 31 suspects as they did with Salinas just because of the nature of cold cases.

Each jury will obviously be different, but this verdict should give prosecutors and the Aurora Police Department confidence as they prepare for the other cases and make even more arrests.

BY MIKE CETERA

He once threatened violence against police, but for years now he's been working for them. He once held the titles "enforcer" and "terminator" as a member of an Aurora street gang. Now he goes by the less menacing title of "informant."

Orlando Rivera is no angel. Yet he's one of the men helping law enforcement officials seek to close long cold murder cases in Aurora. This week he testified for the prosecution in a murder case from 2000.

Make no mistake, Rivera isn't doing this simply because he's had a change of heart about being a gang member. Court records show authorities have forgiven past crimes and have paid him handsomely for his services.

Rivera is a clear example of the type of people police need to cultivate to make a case in gang crimes. It's a game cops must play with caution.

BY DAVE PARRO

The first of dozens of Aurora cold-case murder trials starts today, which will be fascinating to watch because of its potential implications for prosecuting the other 31 suspects rounded up earlier this summer.

Jose Salinas wasn't arrested in the huge sweep at the end of June, but rather was charged in March with the 2000 shooting of Luis Donatlan. The charges were the first to come out of the formation of the Cold Case Task Force, which is now responsible for arrests in 23 previously unsolved murders (and counting).

The outcome of the Salinas trial could predict how successful prosecutors will be in the other cases. It will also provide insight into how police went about piecing together evidence in killings dating back as far as two decades.