Ali Winston
Defense attorney Yolanda Huang addresses reporters after Judge Robert Freedman approved Oakland
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman tentatively approved Oakland’s gang injunction against 40 alleged Norteños in the Fruitvale this afternoon, bringing an end to at least one stage of a court battle that has stretched on for nine months.
In his six page decision, Judge Freedman ruled that attorneys for the city had provided sufficient evidence for him to issue a court order restricting the movements and associations of the defendants.
“Plaintiff has, by the requisite burden of proof, established entitlement to a preliminary injunction as to Phase I,” Freedman’s decision read.
However, it is unclear how many of the defendants would be bound by the court’s decision. Abel Manzo and Javier Quintero, the two defendants who were the subject of court proceedings so far, were named in Freedman’s order. So were Antonio Lambaren, Alberto Acosta and Joey Anthony Martinez, defendants who defaulted on their right to contest their inclusion on the injunction list and who would have been covered by Judge Freedman’s ruling. It is unclear whether Judge Freedman will allow Acosta or Martinez to challenge their inclusion on the list: both filed late requests for counsel after the default deadline had passed.
Further details of the injunction — including which defendants it will affect — will be hammered out by attorneys for both sides and the court by the end of July. “Phase II” of the proceedings will begin in December, when Judge Freedman will hear the individual cases of the 35 remaining defendants who have yet to testify.
Records indicate Oakland City Attorney John Russo had private attorneys research a third gang injunction–this one in Area 3, East Oakland. The $19,999.98 in outside counsel costs are not included in a February 