A former leader of the Ñetas street gang testified Tuesday he ordered underlings to beat gang turncoat Alex Ruiz for more than 20 minutes near railroad tracks at a park after he defected to the Latin Kings, triggering a war between the rival factions.
Fernando Rivera, the Ñetas’ former top boss, said the only reason he didn’t order Ruiz murdered was because the victim’s brother was a member of the Ñetas. Apparently even in gangland culture, blood is thicker than beef.
“To be honest,” said Rivera, whose own criminal rap sheet includes convictions for kidnapping, aggravated assault and drug trafficking, “the reason I didn’t kill Alex was because of his brother. I can’t take his family member out even though he crossed the line.”
Rivera’s testimony in the fourth murder trial of Latin Kings gang leader Jose Negrete was startling even on a day filled with fireworks. Another witness’ refusal to answer prosecutors’ questions could lead to him being held in contempt.
Rivera’s incriminating testimony somehow topped that since he openly admitted committing crime even though he was not granted immunity for taking the stand and exposed himself to possible criminal charges.
Prosecutors, bound by a gag order imposed by the trial judge, were not authorized to discuss whether they would explore bringing charges against Rivera.
Rivera’s admissions contrasted starkly with Negrete, who is charged with ordering the 2004 execution-style murder of Latin “Queen” Jeri Lynn Dotson and botched hit on Ruiz, but has maintained his innocence as a jury alternately was unsure of his guilt and later convicted him.
Negrete’s first trial in 2008 ended in a hung jury. He was ultimately retried and convicted but an appellate court threw out an 80-year sentence because of jury misconduct.
Here was Negrete, again, facing his accusers. He and Rivera locked eyes only once, when Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Tom Meidt asked Rivera to point out the defendant in court.
Rivera recounted for the jury numerous conversations with “Boom Bat” in which he attempted to convince him to “take care of” Dotson.
“She was a good girl,” Rivera said. “I wasn’t gonna do that.”
Negrete doubted the mother of two’s loyalty to the Latin Kings because she had dated Rivera. Rivera described how the relationship between the Ñetas and Latin Kings deteriorated soon after Negrete became “Inca,” or leader.
It isn’t explicitly clear whether Negrete, looking to bolster his gang’s membership, convinced Ruiz to switch allegiances. But Rivera recalled Ruiz called him one day and told him of his plan to become a Latin King.
Rivera didn’t take it well. Ruiz’s own brother fought with him and a “war” between the gangs erupted.
“You had family members fighting each other,” Rivera said.
Negrete and Rivera met twice at a convenience store to try to halt the violence. The Latin Kings were to hand over Ruiz, who was later uninitiated from the gang through a vicious beating at the hands of the Ñetas. After it was over, a gang member drove Ruiz to the hospital.
Ruiz, one of six witnesses to take the stand Wednesday, didn’t testify about the beating at the hands of the Ñetas. Nor did he recall being abducted beaten, strangled and left for dead in a trash dumpster on Duck Island by members of the Latin Kings on Aug. 30, 2004.
The 31-year-old Ruiz, wearing a black button-down shirt with light blue jeans, his jet black hair pulled back tightly into a ponytail, blamed his spotty memory on the near death experience.
This came after the physician who treated him took the stand and said Ruiz suffered “cognitive deficits” from a loss of oxygen to the brain. But it is unclear if the injuries affected his memory and Ruiz was discharged from the hospital after three days and told to follow up with specialists.
Ruiz said he did not recall his affiliations with the Latin Kings and Ñetas, nor names of other gang members, such as Angel “Ace” Hernandez, who was previously convicted of murdering Dotson under orders from Negrete. Assistant Prosecutor John Boyle flashed pictures of the gang members, which Ruiz claimed did not help him remember.
“I’m bad with names,” he said. “Certain things I’ve blocked out. I don’t want to open that book back up. I deal with that on a daily basis. I can barely remember what my kids look like unless I see their pictures.”
It was unclear whether Ruiz was being intentionally uncooperative or couldn’t remember. The latter appeared to be the case for Joey Martinez, a former Latin Kings member who is now free after serving more than 10 years of a 12-year sentence for conspiring with others to kill Dotson.
Martinez, now a 32-year-old working father who has previously testified in Negrete’s numerous trials, responded to many of prosecutors’ questions by saying he didn’t remember. Martinez kept up the routine even after Meidt showed him transcripts of his previous testimony to refresh his recollection.
“I don’t remember any of that,” Martinez said after glancing at a transcript.
Before leaving the court, Martinez looked at Negrete’s supporters and pounded his chest.
At Meidt’s behest, the court will conduct a hearing with Martinez outside of the jury’s presence before testimony resumes Wednesday at 10 a.m.