Arizona - Judge sends Vagos gang members' case back to grand jury..

OFF THE WIRE
The Daily Courier
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=90357
Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Celé Hancock sent the shooting cases of two men affiliated with the Vagos motorcycle gang back to the grand jury on Friday, Jan. 28.
Hancock did not change conditions of release or exonerate bail for Brian Lee Apfel and Jess Ramirez Flores in connection with the shootout between Hells Angels and Vagos motorcycle gangs in an unincorporated area northwest of Chino Valley on Aug. 21, 2010, because the Yavapai County Attorney's Office indicated it would send the case back to a grand jury soon.
Apfel, 38, of Las Vegas had been charged with discharging a firearm at a residential structure in the same incident.
Flores, 61, of Glendale had been charged with discharging a firearm, possession of narcotic drugs, and possession of dangerous drugs.
In her ruling to send the case back to the grand jury, Hancock wrote that the testimony of a detective "regarding the one-percenters may have unduly influenced the grand jury to assume that Apfel was an outlaw and thus may have influenced the grand jury's determination of probable cause."
Hancock wrote that while the detective testified that the Vagos were, as a general rule, law-abiding, that there was a percentage of the Vagos members that did not subscribe to this general rule and considered themselves outlaws.
Prosecutor Dana Owens wrote in her response that the information was necessary in order to present evidence about Apfel's participation in a criminal street gang, but Hancock wrote that testimony was misleading and could have influenced jurors to believe Apfel was more likely to have committed crimes.
Hancock also sent the Flores case back to the grand jury, writing that documents regarding Flores' prescription for the two types of pills he was charged with possession of was given to the prosecutor before the grand jury and should have been presented to grand jurors.