A defense attorney for the 31 men accused of being public nuisances in East Lake Courts wants to suppress any mention of the forms that police use to validate people as gang members during a civil trial later this month.
“As grounds, the individuals would show that the gang validation forms submitted [during a 2016 hearing] are hearsay and not subject to any exception,” defense attorney Chrissy Mincy wrote in a recent motion.
Mincy will get a chance to argue further during a hearing Tuesday in Hamilton County Criminal Court, and attorneys likely will iron out any other issues then before the case goes to trial on April 17.
Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston was unavailable for comment Friday, but his office presumably would be opposed to Mincy’s request since prosecutors entered about 40 validation forms as evidence in the case.
Chattanooga police officers use a point system to validate someone as a gang member. Tattoos, self-admittance, and associating with other gang members all have a different value, and a person needs 10 points to be validated as a member. Anything less means you’re “associated” with the gang.