As defense attorneys continue to request specific information on the alleged crimes that landed their clients on the state's 54-person gang racketeering indictment, prosecutors are trying to put six defendants who've been out on bail back behind bars.
Earlier this month, Hamilton County prosecutors filed to increase or revoke bond altogether for six people who've been charged with new crimes since the March indictment against the Athens Park Bloods. District Attorney General Neal Pinkston says that street gang is responsible for dealing illegal drugs, committing robberies and arson, lying to authorities about their crimes and using proceeds from their illegal activities to bail other members out of jail.
At a minimum, Pinkston charged everyone with a Class B felony that carries 12 to 20 years in prison for conspiring to further the gang's objectives through criminal offenses or other fraudulent business dealings. Another seven face murder charges in four previously unsolved homicides.
On Monday, Hamilton County Judge Tom Greenholtz said he will hear any defense and state proof on the bail-bond matters on Aug. 20. He also addressed a number of evidence-related issues and issued bench warrants for about five people who either didn't attend Monday or didn't check in with an attorney.
Since a mass arraignment in April, many defense attorneys have said prosecutors need to give them specific information on their clients' alleged roles in the street gang. They say Tennessee's racketeering law requires prosecutors to prove that each defendant committed two prior criminal acts in furtherance of the gang. And some attorneys, such as Josh Weiss and John Cavett, who are representing Cortez Sims in the 2014 killing of 13-year-old Deontray Southers, say prosecutors also need to show that defendants gained financially from those prior crimes.
Judge Greenholtz is still considering a motion to dismiss Sims' case based on Weiss and Cavett's argument.
Last month, prosecutors said they provided jailhouse phone calls to many defendants and have begun getting more evidence to others. They have until late October to provide the full information. But some attorneys have said they need to know as soon as possible what the state is accusing their clients of doing. Otherwise, they can't do much defense work.
"She doesn't have a criminal record, and the only assumption we can make is she's been named [in this indictment] because she's Cortez Sims' sister," said Chattanooga attorney Megan Welton, who is representing Coynesha Sims. "If the state thinks she has been rightfully named, then we need to know in order to prepare a defense. Currently, we're in the dark as to what the state thinks she has done."
The state's presentment, which contains every defendant's name and their charges, only explicitly says what about eight defendants allegedly did to further the gang's activities. Because of that, among other reasons, Chattanooga attorney Ben McGowan says the presentment is defective and needs to be dismissed.
"As with the substantive count, the [prior crimes] in which an accused conspired must be specifically and factually alleged in the presentment or indictment," McGowan wrote in a motion from earlier this month. "In addition to which, if the [prior crimes] alleged are not said to have been committed individually by the defendant, a further essential element becomes that defendant both knew of and agreed to facilitate that specifically alleged [prior crime]."
Prosecutors have not yet responded to McGowan's motion, and Greenholtz gave them 30 days to do so Monday. The next check-up date for everyone involved in the case is Sept. 24.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.