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Thread: Marvin Mercado Gang Boss Sentenced to 8 Consecutive LWOP Terms Plus 30 Years

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  1. #1
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    Marvin Mercado Gang Boss Sentenced to 8 Consecutive LWOP Terms Plus 30 Years

    Marvin Mercado, whose turf included parts of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, could be sentenced to death.

    A former Asian Boyz gang leader was convicted today of eight Los Angeles-area murders in 1995 and 1996, as well as 10 counts of attempted murder.

    Marvin Mercado, whose turf included parts of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, could be sentenced to death.

    Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry told the seven-woman, five-man jury to return to court on Tuesday for the start of the trial’s penalty phase, in which they will be asked to recommend death or life in prison.

    The jury deliberated about a week before reaching its verdicts.

    Mercado, 37, was living in the Philippines under an assumed name when he was arrested in 2007 and brought to Los Angeles to face justice.

    Mercado was convicted of first-degree murder in the slayings of:

    – Armando Estrada and Miguel Limon, two rival Latino gang members who were shot numerous times after being ambushed at an apartment complex on Valerio Street in Van Nuys on April 14, 1995.

    – Cheng Peng, Paul Vu and Ben Liao, who were mistaken for members of a Taiwanese-based gang. They were followed by three carloads of Asian Boyz gang members as they left a Peck Road cafe, got on the westbound San Bernardino (10) Freeway and then attacked near the Temple City Boulevard offramp in El Monte on Aug. 1, 1995.

    – Oscar Palis, who was killed on Aug. 26, 1995, at Woodman Avenue and Devonshire Street in the Mission Hills area as he and others were heading home from a video arcade.

    – John Gregory, who was fatally shot during a Sept. 20, 1995, home- invasion robbery in Reseda.

    – Tony Nguyen, who was killed with a shotgun the prosecutor said was fired by one of Mercado’s accomplices.

    Jurors also convicted Mercado of 10 counts of attempted murder involving attacks between April 1995 and September 1995, but acquitted him of an 11th count of attempted murder. They deadlocked on a home invasion robbery charge.

    Additionally, jurors found that the crimes were gang-related and that Mercado had personally used a firearm in some of the attacks. The panel also found true a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, which makes Mercado eligible for the death penalty.

    Mercado was a fugitive when seven one-time cohorts of the gang’s Van Nuys clique — Buntheon Roeung, Sothi Menh, David Evangelista, Roatha Buth, Son Thanh Bui, Ky Tony Ngo and Kimorn Nuth — were tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in June 1999.

    “I told you I would try to show you a man who would try to erase who he is,” Deputy District Attorney Hoon Chun told jurors during his closing argument. “But don’t let him fool you. It may be justice delayed, but it’s still justice.”

    The prosecutor said Mercado either had a direct role in the killings or aided his colleagues, including being the driver in the car-to-car shooting in El Monte.

    One of Mercado’s attorneys, Donald Calabria, questioned the credibility of four prosecution witnesses who were granted immunity for serious crimes in exchange for their testimony.

    “You’re dealing with the kind of people who you can’t take what they say at face value,” Calabria said. “Testimony is only as good as the person giving it.”

    Read more: http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-river...#ixzz1EADyq4XJ

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    Prosecutor: Former Asian Boyz leader deserves to die by lethal injection

    A former Asian Boyz gang leader deserves to die by lethal injection rather than spend his life in prison for his role in eight L.A.-area murders in 1995 and 1996 and 10 cases of attempted murder, a prosecutor said Monday.

    “I’m only asking you to give justice,” Deputy District Attorney Hoon Chun told a Los Angeles Superior Court jury during final arguments in the penalty phase of Marvin Mercado’s trial. “You’re the only ones who can do it.”

    Attorney Robert Schwartz will deliver his final argument on behalf of Mercado Tuesday.

    The jury deliberated about a week before reaching its verdicts Feb. 16. Mercado, 37, was living in the Philippines under an assumed name when he was arrested in 2007 and brought to Los Angeles.

    He was convicted of first-degree murder in the slayings of:

    - Armando Estrada and Miguel Limon, two Latino gang members shot numerous times after being ambushed at an apartment complex on Valerio Street in Van Nuys on April 14, 1995;

    – Cheng Peng, 18, Paul Vu and Ben Liao, 16, who were mistaken for members of a Taiwanese-based gang. They were followed by three carloads of Asian Boyz gang members as they left a Peck Road cafe and got on the westbound San Bernardino (10) Freeway, then were attacked near the Temple City Boulevard offramp in El Monte on Aug. 1, 1995.

    – Oscar Palis, 17, killed on Aug. 26, 1995, at Woodman Avenue and Devonshire Street in the Mission Hills area as he and others were heading home from a video arcade.

    – John Gregory, fatally shot during a Sept. 20, 1995, home-invasion robbery in Reseda.

    – Tony Nguyen, killed with a shotgun that the prosecutor said was fired by one of Mercado’s accomplices.

    Jurors also convicted Mercado of 10 counts of attempted murder involving attacks between April 1995 and September 1995, but acquitted him of an 11th count of attempted murder. They deadlocked on a home invasion robbery charge.

    Additionally, jurors found that the crimes were gang-related and that Mercado had personally used a firearm in some of the attacks. The panel also found true a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, which makes Mercado eligible for the death penalty.

    In his presentation, Chun chided defense witnesses who testified on behalf of Mercado and called him polite.

    “You want to call him a polite killer, fine,” Chun said. “This guy’s got ice water in his veins.”

    Chun also displayed transcripts of testimony of many of the victims’ family members, some of whom wept through part or all of their time on the stand.

    Even when Mercado was not shooting his victims, he played an integral role in each shooting, Chun said. “Think of him as the tank commander,” he said.

    Mercado was a fugitive when seven one-time cohorts of the gang’s Van Nuys clique — Buntheon Roeung, Sothi Menh, David Evangelista, Roatha Buth, Son Thanh Bui, Ky Tony Ngo and Kimorn Nuth — were tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in June 1999.



    Read more: http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-river...#ixzz1FLV3Bxnj

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    Pinoy gang leader may get death penalty in US

    LOS ANGELES, California - Sentencing for the convicted ring leader of the Asian Boyz, an Asian American gang that once terrorized Southern California in the mid 90’s began Monday morning.

    Marvin Mercado appeared in court wearing a suit. He stayed silent the whole day, sometimes glancing at the jurors.

    Mercado faces a possible death sentence for 8 murders and 10 attempted murders that took place from 1995 to 1996.

    In all the cases, Mercado either killed the victims himself or aided other gang members. He then fled to the Philippines with his brother Pierre as a fugitive where they were eventually captured in September of 2007.

    Deputy District Attorney Hoon Chun argued Monday afternoon that a death sentence would bring justice to families that have waited 16 years. He showed the jury pictures of the murder scenes during his final statement.

    Chun pointed out that one incident alone wherein he murdered 2 teenagers would give him a minimum life sentence without parole.

    He said the other 6 murders would almost be some sort of freebie if Mercado did not get the death penalty.

    Meanwhile, Mercado’s defense laywer Robert Schwartz pleaded with a jury to spare his life.

    Defense Attorney Robert Schwartz said Mercado’s life is worth sparing because he proved he can be a good person when he lived in the Philippines for 10 years under the fake name Mark De Los Angeles.

    As De Los Angeles living in Manila, Mercado was incident free, started a family, and owned a fishing business.

    During the trial, testimony from his wife’s family claimed he was a “kuya” figure to family members.

    On Monday, a prison chaplain testified that Mercado is showing signs of positive change, saying he has become sincere and respectful, and should be allowed to live behind bars.

    Another inmate testified Monday morning claiming he overheard Mercado plotting a violent escape with other inmates in May of 2010. The inmate said he heard Mercado talking about securing fake documents for 4 other inmates and that he would flee to the Middle East.

    Seven of Mercado’s gang members are currently serving life sentences.

    http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-fi...ath-penalty-us

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    Asian Boyz gang shot-caller should get life in prison, jury says

    A jury on Monday voted for life in prison without the possibility of parole -- and not the death penalty -- for a gang shot-caller convicted in connection to eight killings and 10 shootings in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys.

    Jurors convicted Marvin Mercado, 27, on the charges last month in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Police said Mercado was the shot-caller of the Asian Boyz gang, which by the mid-1990s was 200-strong, with the bulk of its members in Southern California. The slayings all occurred in the mid-1990s. Seven of Mercado's co-defendants were convicted in 1999, but Mercado eluded authorities for more than a decade by escaping to the Philippines.

    During the trial for his co-defendants, a Los Angeles Police Department detective described the spate of violence as "summer madness."

    "They did it just for fun," Det. Larry Dolley said in 1998 on the eve of the first trial.

    The gang initially participated in property crimes that targeted Southeast Asian immigrant businesses. But their downfall began when they started targeting rivals, police said.

    Mercado was convicted in connection with the April 1995 execution-style slaying of two rival gang members in Van Nuys and a car-to-car triple fatal shooting in August 1995 on the 10 Freeway in El Monte.

    Prosecutors also presented evidence that Mercado went to a party in March 1996 and pulled the pin on what he believed was a live grenade, throwing it into a crowd while co-conspirators opened fire on party-goers, killing one and injuring two others. He was also linked to at least two other slayings.

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ison-jury.html

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    Asian Boyz leader sentenced to life in prison for 8 murders

    A former Asian Boyz gang member was sentenced today to eight consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole, plus 30 years, for his role in eight Los Angeles-area killings.

    Marvin Mercado, 37, was also sentenced by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry to 10 terms of 15 years to life behind bars - plus an additional 20 years - for his convictions on 10 counts of attempted murder.

    Jurors recommended March 7 that Mercado be sentenced to life behind bars rather than the death penalty for his crimes. The seven-woman, five-man jury convicted him Feb. 16 of eight murders, which were carried out primarily in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys in 1995 and 1996.

    Mercado was living in the Philippines under an assumed name after marrying into a socially prominent family when he was arrested in 2007 and later brought back to Los Angeles to stand trial.

    "I'm very thrilled for Marvin that he is going to be able to live," one of Mercado's attorneys, Robert Schwartz, said after the jury's March 7 decision. He said he believed jurors may have been swayed by Mercado's crime- free life after fleeing to the Philippines following a two-year crime spree.

    Schwartz called the life prison term "a horrible sentence" that ensures that his client will die behind bars.

    Deputy District Attorney Hoon Chun said the prosecution respected the jury's penalty phase verdict, but respectfully disagreed with its decision. He
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    had asked the panel to recommend a death sentence, telling jurors, "This guy's got ice water in his veins."

    Chun told reporters following the jury's decision that the first two victims were gang members, and the remaining six were "innocent victims" who were "just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

    Mercado was convicted of first-degree murder in the slayings of:

    Armando Estrada and Miguel Limon, two rival Latino gang members who were shot numerous times after being ambushed at an apartment complex on Valerio Street in Van Nuys on April 14, 1995;

    Cheng Peng, Paul Vu and Ben Liao, who were mistaken for members of a Taiwanese-based gang. They were followed by three carloads of Asian Boyz gang members as they left a Peck Road cafe, got on the westbound San Bernardino (10) Freeway and then attacked near the Temple City Boulevard offramp in El Monte on Aug. 1, 1995;

    Oscar Palis, who was killed on Aug. 26, 1995, at Woodman Avenue and Devonshire Street in the Mission Hills area as he and others were heading home from a video arcade;

    John Gregory, who was fatally shot during a Sept. 20, 1995, home- invasion robbery in Reseda; and

    Tony Nguyen, who was killed with a shotgun the prosecutor said was fired by one of Mercado's accomplices.

    Jurors also convicted Mercado of 10 counts of attempted murder involving attacks between April and September 1995, but acquitted him of an 11th count of attempted murder. They deadlocked on a home invasion robbery charge.

    Additionally, jurors found that the crimes were gang-related and that Mercado had used a firearm in some of the attacks. The panel also found true a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, which made Mercado eligible for the death penalty.

    Mercado was a fugitive when seven one-time cohorts of the gang's Van Nuys clique - Buntheon Roeung, Sothi Menh, David Evangelista, Roatha Buth, Son Thanh Bui, Ky Tony Ngo and Kimorn Nuth - were tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in June 1999.

    The prosecutor told jurors Mercado either had a direct role in the killings or aided his colleagues, including being the driver in the car-to-car shooting in El Monte.

    Mercado's other attorney, Donald Calabria, questioned the credibility of four prosecution witnesses who were granted immunity for serious crimes in exchange for their testimony.

    http://www.dailynews.com/ci_17734287?source=most_viewed

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