By David Simpson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DEKALB, Ga. - The case of a young man killed outside a busy DeKalb County movie theater may give the Georgia Supreme Court its first chance to rule on the constitutionality of a new anti-gang law.
DeKalb Superior Court Judge Michael Hancock issued a ruling last month upholding the Georgia Street Gang Act, which provides for an additional sentence of five to 15 years for any crime committed during gang activity.
Hancock recently gave defense lawyers permission to appeal his ruling before the trial of three defendants charged with killing Jesus Silencio, 21, of Doraville after an argument in the parking lot of the Regal Hollywood 24 theater in northeast DeKalb on Sept. 29, 2006.
The defendants are Jose Garcia, 19, of Doraville; and Gilberto Rodriguez, 19, and Efrain Rodriguez, 18, both of a Buford Highway address near Doraville. A fourth man, Jonathan Jimenez of Norcross, also has been indicted on a murder charge, but he remains at large.
Defense lawyer Darryl Queen of the state public defender office said Friday the appeal apparently would be the first challenge to the gang law to reach the state Supreme Court. He said the defense contends the law, enacted in 2006, is unconstitutionally vague.
“Who’s a gang, who’s not a gang? Is a baseball team a gang?” Queen said.
DeKalb authorities have cracked down on gangs. Police Chief Terrell Bolton doubled the size of the gang unit last year, and District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming hired a prosecutor to focus on gang cases.
Keyes Fleming has said the gang law does not permit prosecutions of youths who simply associate and dress alike. She said it targets those involved in criminal acts. In a statement issued through her spokeswoman Friday, the district attorney said the law has been upheld three times in DeKalb courts, and “we are confident that the appellate courts will rule similarly.”
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