San Diego Superior Court Judge Louis R. Mahoian has dismissed all charges in the cases of Brandon Duncan and Aaron Harvey.
San Diego rapper Brandon Duncan had faced criminal charges because prosecutors thought he had benefited from crimes and murders committed by a gang he is affiliated with. He could have been literally sentenced to life in prison over pictures he had posted on Facebook, which contained alleged gang signs. The law under Penal Code 186.22 (b) states:
“Anyone who commits a felony for the benefit of a gang will receive a mandatory prison sentence… in addition and consecutive to the penalty s/he receives for the underlying felony. Depending on the circumstances of the offense, Penal Code 186.22 (b) PC could mean an additional two (2) to fifteen (15) years, or even twenty-five (25)-years-to-life, in prison…even if you’re not a gang member, and even if you aren’t the individual who was most directly responsible for committing the underlying felony!”
The Judge stated that mere association was insufficient cause to prosecute Duncan. He told the prosecution, “This requires a felonious act. You have to convict them of a substantive offense, without it you cannot charge them”.
Duncan was among 14 men involved in this Orwellian case, who had faced the same charges: for benefiting in one way or another from murders which took place in San Diego by their alleged associated gang members. The men were charged under CA Penal Code section 182.5, which allows the State to prosecute anyone deemed to have “benefited” from a gang crime. The law says a person who “willfully promotes, furthers, assists, or benefits” from a gang crime can be charged with conspiracy. The benefit Harvey received out of the 2013 shootings by Lincoln Park gang members is allegedly street cred.
“They’re saying I benefited because my stature, my respect, went up. I didn’t even know I had any stature. I don’t understand how someone can benefit from something they don’t even know exists. It’s not a quantifiable thing, there’s no measure for stature. They’re the ones quantifying it,” Harvey had said, insisting that he was the victim who happened to be living in a gang-heavy neighborhood.
