SAN FRANCISCO — A state appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that a California law aimed at criminal street gangs applies to groups that engage in graffiti vandalism on a large scale.
The Court of Appeal reinstated street gang enhancements in the prosecution of eight young people accused of a “sophisticated conspiracy” to paint graffiti in San Francisco and Alameda counties.
The defendants were also accused in a criminal case in San Francisco Superior Court of 22 counts of felony vandalism.
But their trial was put on hold until the courts determined whether prosecutors could add street gang enhancements under a 1988 law known as the California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act.
If the defendants are convicted, the enhancements in the charges could lead to stiffer penalties and requirements that the gang members register with police and not associate with one another while on probation.
The appeals court, in a decision issued on Wednesday, rejected the defendants’ claim that the street gang law shouldn't apply to nonviolent graffiti painting.
A three-judge panel said the law applies to both violent and nonviolent gang activity and noted that an organized group “can cause damage beyond that which an individual can achieve acting alone.”
The court said the number and variety of locations allegedly defaced by the defendants was “staggering.”
The defaced sites included a large mural painted by school children, three Municipal Railway vehicles, several buildings, a historic bus shelter and a freeway support structure, among other locations.
The ruling clears the way for a trial unless the defendants successfully appeal the decision.
Defense attorney Arthur Wachtel said the defendants, who are in their early
20s, will appeal to the California Supreme Court.