agingrebel.com
The trial in San Francisco of Mongols Motorcycle Club member Christopher “Stoney” Ablett is about to conclude.
Ablett is charged with the racketeering murder of Hells Angels Frisco charter President Mark “Papa” Guardado outside a bar in San Francisco in September 2008. If convicted, Ablett faces life in prison. He could know his fate as early as tomorrow.
Motion For Dismissal
The prosecution concluded its case yesterday with the testimony of an FBI Agent named Jacob Millspaugh. Millspaugh knew nothing about the confrontation between Guardado and Ablett, but he did know that the Mongols are a racket.
Late yesterday, Ablett’s lead attorney Richard B. Mazer filed a 31 page motion asking the District Judge hearing the case, Richard Seeborg, to enter a verdict of not-guilty because the evidence offered by the prosecution “is legally insufficient for any rational juror to find Mr. Ablett guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Mazer wrote the judge that the government had not proven that the Mongols Motorcycle Club is a racketeering enterprise and that Ablett did not murder Guardado on the Mongols behalf. Specifically, Mazer argued that prosecutors had failed to prove: The Mongols affected interstate commerce; that the club engaged in racketeering activity; that Ablett committed murder; that he committed murder to maintain or increase his position in the “Mongols racket;” or that he did not act in self-defense.
Judge Seeborg has not yet ruled on the motion.
Ablett But Not Doc
But today, Valentine’s day, Seeborg did rule that former Mongols President Ruben “Doc” Cavazos will not be testifying on Ablett’s behalf. Seeborg did not mention Cavazos by name. He simply wrote:
“On February 10, 2012, defendant Christopher Ablett submitted an ex parte application for a subpoena requiring certain individuals to appear as witnesses at trial in the above-captioned case. The request, accompanying affidavit, and exhibit are attached as an Exhibit to this Order. (The exhibit was sealed.) The application must be denied because the information furnished by defendant does not suggest the subpoenaed individuals have any information that is relevant or necessary to his defense.”
So the principal defense witness became Ablett himself. The defendant took the stand this morning at 8:40 and told the jury his account of the night Guardado died for almost three hours. The prosecution began its cross examination after a 15 minute break and kept trying to poke holes in Ablett’s story until court adjourned for the day at 1:30.
Ablett will resume his ordeal by prosecutor tomorrow morning.
