Last two alleged members set to be released

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003 | 10:57 a.m.

The last two alleged 311 Boyz in custody at the Clark County Detention Center will be released from the jail and placed on house arrest as soon as today.

Jeff Hart, 17, and Brandon Gallion, 16, were the last of nine teens who had been jailed on charges of maiming 17-year-old Stephen Tanner Hansen with a rock.

While the seven other teens had been released from custody on a $40,000 bond, Hart and Gallion remained in jail because of a separate case in Juvenile Court.

In that case, Hart and Gallion face felony charges in a July 3 fight in which two other teens were injured.

In separate hearings Wednesday, Family Court Judge Cynthia Dianne Steel released the teens from the Clark County Detention Center and placed them on house arrest in the juvenile case.

Hart and Gallion are expected to be released to their parents.

The two teens had already been ordered into house arrest for the charges relating to Hansen. Gallion had posted a $40,000 bail in that case, and Hart was released on his own recognizance.

Hart and Gallion will wear electric monitors and will be required to stay home at all times, Steel said.

They must also enroll in a home schooling program. Probation officers from both the adult system and juvenile system will ensure their compliance, Steel said.

"It's like you will be a prisoner in your own home," Steel said.

A district judge last week imposed evening curfews on the other seven teens charged in the attack on Hansen. The teens face 13 felony counts in that case.

In the juvenile case, Hart and Gallion each face two felony counts of battery causing substantial bodily harm. The fight in that case was videotaped.

Further information on the attack was not available, as juvenile records are sealed.

Prosecutors in the juvenile system are trying to get Hart and Gallion certified as adults. A certification hearing for Hart is scheduled for Oct. 8. Gallion's certification hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15.

Clark County prosecutor Jonathan VanBoskerck, who handled the juvenile case, had argued for the teens to remain in jail, saying the teens posed a "clear and present danger to the community."

He read excerpts from a report from Metro Police, which called the 311 Boyz an "extremely violent gang" that "represents a real and pressing danger to this city."

But defense attorneys Sean Sullivan and Gabriel Grasso, who represent Hart and Gallion respectively, argued that house arrest was more than sufficient to ensure that their clients stay out of trouble.

Neither of the teens have prior criminal records, the attorneys said.

"(Hart's) record alone is a reflection that he is not a danger to the community," Sullivan said.

Grasso assured Steel that there was no danger of the teens reuniting while out of custody.

"The 311 Boyz gang, if there ever was one, is defunct," he said. "They're all on curfew or house arrest. There's no (no reason for) concern about these kids getting back together."