Defense says there was no conspiracy

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2003 | 9:40 a.m.

Defense attorneys for seven of the nine teens facing 13 felony charges, including attempted murder, battery and coercion, in the attack that maimed 17-year-old Stephen Tanner Hansen argued to have the charges dismissed Monday.

The attorneys maintained that the grand jury indictments relied too heavily on a conspiracy theory propagated by Deputy District Christopher Laurent. They said it did not take into consideration the facts of the case or the specific actions of each defendant. Instead, the teens charged in the incident were lumped together, defense attorneys said, regardless of whether they were even present when Hansen was hit by the rock that smashed one side of his face.

"(Ernest) Aguilar wasn't there when rocks were thrown ... where does the liability come in for the attempted murder?" attorney Thomas Pitaro asked District Court Judge Michael Cherry.

Laurent argued the teens acted as a mob and used force to first detain the truck Hansen was in, then to chase it and pummel it with rocks. Defense lawyers argued that the teens acted independently, and that some of those charged did nothing more than sit on the tailgate of the truck.

Five of the nine teens charged are mentioned in the grand jury transcripts as having picked up rocks to throw, but witnesses were uncertain of who actually threw rocks at the truck, including the rock that hit Hansen.

Laurent did concede the 13th count of mayhem for all of the defendants was originally part of the indictment because Hansen was originally believed to have lost his eye.

The attorneys argued heavily against the attempted murder charges, arguing that skewed instructions to the grand jury did not properly define the expressed malice needed to support an attempted murder charge. They also questioned whether mere presence at the incident should add up to conspiracy and attempted murder.

Laurent maintained that the evidence presented to the grand jury supported the indictments and that a jury can easily infer malice and the intention to kill from someone who "throws rocks the size of volleyballs" at the windshield of a "truck going 80 miles per hour."

Steven Gazlay's defense attorney James "Bucky" Buchanan said "the whole case falls apart" without the attempted murder and conspiracy-related coercion charges.

Without the attempted murder charge, five of the nine defendants would be tried in Juvenile Court, he said.

"If attempted murder and the coercion charges drop off, everyone will walk except the rock throwers, and they will probably only face battery with a deadly weapon," Buchanan said outside the courthouse. He said he thought only three could be charged with throwing rocks.

Cherry heard arguments from the lawyers of Anthony and Brandon Gallion, 16, Christopher Farley, 18, Ernest Aguilar, 17, Matthew Costello, 17, and Dominic Harriman, 19, during the two-hour hearing.

Cherry postponed hearing Buchanan's arguments until Friday.

Seventeen-year-old Jeff Hart's lawyer failed to file his motion for dismissal within the 21-day time period from the plea hearing and 18-year-old Scott Morse's lawyer has yet to file a motion. Laurent filed motions to strike any dismissal request for both Hart and Morse.

The defense lawyers also argued for dismissal of all charges based on the alleged bias of grand juror Ralph Smith, who wrote a letter to the editor against the 311 Boyz.

Cherry said he expected to decide on the motions for dismissal on Dec. 9.