Tattoos scrutinized in murder trial
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WHAT'S NEXT?
The prosecution will continue to present its case against Sebastian Mejia on Thursday in Judge Robert Cheshire's courtroom.
A gang expert offered possible interpretation for a capital murder defendant's tattoos Wednesday.
Sebastian Mejia, 30, is charged with the 2007 shooting death of 17-year-old Derrick Quintanilla. He's also accused of acting as a member of the Texas Syndicate prison gang.
Lt. Chris Garcia analyzed pictures of Mejia's tattoos, which included pointy-horned beasts, curled horns on his scalp and the words "Life" and "Death."
"Really, really pointy areas are indicative of the Texas Syndicate," Garcia said.
Garcia also highlighted shapes that resembled the letters T and S in Mejia's tattoos.
Defense attorney Louis Martinez said his defendant is a tattoo artist.
"If you were interviewing a tattoo artist, you wouldn't think lots of tattoos were unusual?" Martinez said.
Martinez asked Garcia to consider tattoos on Quintanilla's body, which included a 13. In the past, that number was typically associated with the Mexican Mafia, Garcia said, but its meaning has become diluted over the years.
Garcia also testified about the structure of prison gangs. In 2007, Sebastian Mejia might have been trying to get a higher leadership role locally, Garcia said.
Saving face and quickly punishing people who are disrespectful is key to any gang leader, Garcia said.
A witness testified Tuesday that Mejia suspected Quintanilla stole from him. Quintanilla was shot about two days later.
In cross examination, Martinez highlighted the rigid structure of prison gangs Garcia earlier presented. In the Texas Syndicate, members of the "mesa mejor" - high-ranking leadership - need to approve major actions, Garcia said. Since members of the mesa mejor are often in prison, communication comes through the mail and is slow, he said.
"A murder would have to be approved?" Martinez asked.
"You would hope so," Garcia said.
Some issues can be decided locally, because of time restraints, Garcia said.
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Couldn't agree more with waywardwind.
tnt88, on the other hand, is reading stuff into the reported testimony. A poor choice of words maybe, but Lt Garcia isn't approving of the prison gang system or its wannabes in Victoria ... it's just the facts.
Why aren't we getting the usual rantings from the anti-VPD posters here? (You know, blah blah expansion of police state, blah blah errosion of liberties, etc.) Offering evidence about tattoos in a murder trial seems to be a stretch. Just because you have a pointy tat doesn't mean you are likely to have killed Quintanilla. Oh, wait, this must be the DA's idea. Never mind, then.
November 19, 2009 at 10:09 a.m."A murder would have to be approved?" Martinez asked.
"You would hope so," Garcia said.
Some issues can be decided locally, because of time restraints, Garcia said.
Is Garcia approving of this? Is he saying, as long as they have a chain of command and do this in an orderly fashion it is o.k.? If Mejia would have been ordered to kill would that have justified it?
November 19, 2009 at 7:46 a.m.It is such a shame that we are sending off our best and brightest, our future, to be used as bullet filters, while (let me try to be politically correct - lest my post be deleted) we are keeping the 'undesirable' here to be protected and reap the benefits. Makes you wonder what our future is to become if we have killed off our best.
November 19, 2009 at 7:21 a.m.helpme2...I wouldn't want thugs like this fighting for the US. I wouldn't mind if they were targets for the taliban, but the men and women of the United States Armed Forces are the finest and most honorable citizens the country has -- except for the odd muslim sleeper -- and to suggest that slime like gang members should be in the military is to treat with disrespect those men and women who sacrifice daily for our safety. The slugs you would have fighting wouldn't follow orders, have no discipline and couldn't function in the highly structured environment of the military. Rather than fighting, they'd be more likely to jump to the other side.
November 18, 2009 at 9:43 p.m.I agree with helpme2 .
November 18, 2009 at 9:41 p.m.Why waste our tax payers money on crap like this and send these want to be men - killers/gang members to war and send our real men (soldiers) back home to their families.
November 18, 2009 at 8:24 p.m.