The Justice Department’s case against a man accused of offering $10,000 for the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino appeared to be on shaky ground Thursday after a federal judge barred crucial testimony about Chicago street gangs from the trial.
Prosecutors once accused Juan Espinoza Martinez of being a ranking member of the Latin Kings. Solicitor General John Sauer even cited the case at the U.S. Supreme Court last October, telling justices that “an alleged leader of the Latin Kings” in Chicago was being prosecuted for placing a $10,000 bounty on a Border Patrol official’s head.
But after the feds acknowledged last week that they won’t seek to prove Espinoza Martinez’s membership in the gang, U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow on Thursday barred any testimony that he had ties to a Chicago street gang — or even that he had an affinity for them.
Espinoza Martinez’s trial is set to begin Tuesday.
Lefkow’s ruling led three hours later to an emergency hearing, in which First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Yonan, the second-highest ranking federal prosecutor in the Chicago region, argued “you cannot remove the Latin Kings from this case and simply present the jury with a message that this defendant sent to the source, without giving them some sort of context.”
“Nearly every piece of evidence in this case touches, in some fashion, on the Latin Kings,” Yonan told Lefkow.
Yonan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Minje Shin said they were seeking clarity from the judge. But defense attorney Jonathan Bedi argued they were really trying to get the judge to change her mind.
“What I’m hearing from the government is really … this is detrimental to their case because Your Honor made the correct ruling,” Bedi said. “And now they want another bite at the apple.”
Lefkow seemed to struggle with the issue, acknowledging that there needs to be context for conversations that Espinoza Martinez allegedly engaged in. Around 4:15 p.m. she told the lawyers, “if there’s anything more to be said, I will get back to you shortly.”
There had been no further word from the judge as of 7 p.m.
The judge wrote in her order that testimony “regarding the Latin Kings, gangs in Chicago, and ties to or affinity for gangs that [Espinoza Martinez] may have are excluded.”
“Without evidence showing that [Espinoza Martinez] is a member of the Latin Kings or that the Latin Kings instructed [Espinoza Martinez] to send the alleged murder-for-hire information, the prejudicial nature of such testimony outweighs any probative value,” she wrote.
The judge also denied a request from prosecutors that she allow a key witness, identified only as an anonymous “source of information” to testify without disclosing his full name. The feds had cited a social media post that had been taken as a threat against him.
“If the government seriously considers the [source of information] to be in danger, it has a duty and the means to protect such a witness through security measures provided through the Marshals Service,” Lefkow wrote.
The judge said that person may testify about “how he received” a message allegedly sent to him by Espinoza Martinez, and what he took it to mean.
The case against Espinoza Martinez is one of the most closely watched prosecutions to result from “Operation Midway Blitz,” the aggressive deportation campaign that hit Chicago last fall. Espinoza Martinez is among 31 people known to have been charged with non-immigration crimes tied to the campaign.
However, charges have already been dropped against 14 of those defendants, and no one has been convicted. That makes next week’s trial of Espinoza Martinez a major test for U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office.
Espinoza Martinez is accused of sending a picture of Bovino to the feds’ source by Snapchat in early October. A message allegedly followed that said, “2k on info cuando lo agarren,” “10k if u take him down,” and “LK … on him.”
Authorities say that meant Espinoza Martinez had offered a $2,000 reward for information about Bovino, as well as a $10,000 reward for his murder, while indicating the Latin Kings were involved.
Prosecutors have also pointed to text messages in which Espinoza Martinez allegedly wrote “my guys are ready in the vill,” “saints, sds, and 2six being b—-es,” “Chapo has our back bro. if they they take one its gunna be bad,” and “sinaloa dont f— around.”
More recently, the feds alleged that when law enforcement asked Espinoza Martinez how he knew the Latin Kings were targeting Bovino, Espinoza Martinez said, “because I hear the talks. I mean, they are talking right there.”
But Bedi told Lefkow late Thursday that prosecutors “don’t have anything to show his intent.”
“They don’t have anything to show that he intended this to be a threat,” Bedi said.