Articles Tagged with closing argument

A rational actor should not be overeager to join “Brothers of the  Struggle”  or  “Gangster  Disciples” (“BOS”), primarily comprised of a group of servicemen with too much idle time on their hands who were stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. BOS is said to be related to  the  Gangster  Disciples, an  American  gang  with  roots  in  Chicago  and  corresponding individual “sets,” or local groups, around the world. (The BOS group was said to engage in fistfights but supposedly didn’t engage in other criminal activities.) “Initiation” in BOS meant that a new  member would be beaten up in a “jump-in,” during which  approximately six  BOS members would  hit the initiate for about six  minutes, striking blows between  the  neck  and  the  waist. The initiate could not defend himself in any way. During jump-ins initiates were asked repeatedly if they wanted to proceed. If the initiate declined, the initiation ended; otherwise if the initiate acceded, it continued. After a jump-in, the new member would be  hugged,  kissed  on  the  cheek, shown the BOS handshake,  and  taken out  to  celebrate. In the past, about fifteen to eighteen jump-ins had occurred and no one had been hospitalized or injured.

Rico Williams changed the rules of the “game” during Army Sergeant Juwan Johnson’s hazing. Williams was an ex-serviceman who was living at Ramstein as a dependent of his wife, who was also an Airman. Williams struck Johnson several times in the face during a jump-in that nine, not the usual six, BOS members joined in. As events transpired, the hazing continued, even though Johnson kept saying he was all right, and went on after Johnson had fallen to the ground and was kicked by members. Although Johnson never lost consciousness, he died within hours of the beating. (The sad details are at pages 3-4 of Circuit Judge Griffith’s majority opinion.)

Williams was charged under the  Military  Extraterritorial Jurisdiction  Act of  2000 (“MEJA”),  which  provides  federal jurisdiction  over  crimes committed  by a civilian  accompanying  the  Armed Forces  outside  the United  States (18 U.S.C. § 3261 et seq.), with second degree murder on an American installation. In addition he was accused of witness tampering (18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(3)).  (Slip Op. at 5-6). An autopsy revealed “blunt force injuries”  to  Johnson’s  brain  and heart, which the Government’s medical expert opined had caused Johnson’ death. The defense medical expert, in turn, asserted that the cause of death was sickle-cell  trait,  a typically  asymptomatic  genetic condition,  and  that  “superficial  blunt  impact  injuries” were merely a “contributing” cause of death. (Slip Op. at 5). Williams was convicted of the murder count and received a 22-year sentence and a concurrent ten-year sentence on one of the tampering counts. (Id. at 6-7).