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Ogden • A three-day evidentiary hearing to determine whether an injunction against the Trece street gang will become permanent ended Thursday, but a ruling in the case may still be weeks away.
Second District Judge Ernie Jones said he will need time to review the large amount of evidence presented by both sides before making a decision. He also asked the attorneys to file briefs by the end of the month on the issues they would like him to address in his findings.
Defense attorneys representing several alleged Trece members who have been served the injunction said they plan to appeal any ruling making the injunction permanent. The injunction prohibits members of the large street gang from associating with each other in the city, sets a curfew and prohibits them from carrying guns or graffiti tools in public.
Accused gang member Chase Aeschlimann took the witness stand Thursday.
Aeschlimann said he was served the injunction about 10 months ago during a traffic stop, but that he's never been a member of Trece or any other gang. The 27-year-old did say he had an "OX3" tattoo on his back, representing the gang, but he said he got the tattoo when he was 12 years old and tried to have it removed in 2000.
"I didn't agree with what they were doing, and what they were representing," he said. "That's not me."
Aeschlimann said he got mixed into gang association because his brother may have been involved in some gang activities with his friends. He said he got the tattoo "out of fear," but said he had never been jumped into the gang, and never committed crimes with them.
Now that he's been served with the injunction, Aeschlimann testified he fears being out in public on the off chance that another gang member could be in the same vicinity and he could get arrested.
Aeschlimann said he can't get off the gang list because in his understanding he has to admit to being a gang member who is no longer involved in gang activities, in court. He said that would be committing perjury, as he's never been a member.
Nathan Perry, an economics professor at Colorado-Mesa University, also testified Thursday. He said he had concerns with the numbers produced by the Ogden Police Department as proof of a decrease in criminal activity.
Perry testified there is no statistical significance that the injunction affected crime in any way. Other factors such as number of police units, the economy, unemployment rates and demographics could all play a part in a decrease in crime — which he says clearly starts in 2008 rather than when the injunction was implemented in 2010.
The Utah Supreme Court has previously refused to suspend the injunction, and the Utah Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
In closing arguments, Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said Trece exists to commit crimes and called the injunction "an appropriate action to abate their nuisance."
Defense attorney Randy Richards countered, saying the injunction was "frightening" as it takes away several constitutional rights of those who have been served.
"We are at a crossroads where the government is attempting to strip a group of their rights," he said.
Attorney could be held in contempt of court
Defense attorney Mike Boyle found himself in hot water at the end of the Thursday hearing after 2nd District Judge Ernie Jones set a hearing on whether he should be held in contempt of court.
Boyle had excused himself in and out of the courtroom throughout three days of proceedings to attend other hearings, which Jones said he found "troubling."
Jones said although Boyle told the court that defense attorney Randy Richards could speak for him, they were not representing the same clients, and were not co-counsel on the case.
"I'm just amazed that you would do this," Jones said to Boyle before setting the contempt hearing for later this month.