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Defendants and appellants Michael Beattie, Danny Black, and Jason Schmaus were convicted of first-degree murder, and the jury found true the special circumstance that the murder was committed while lying in wait.
At defendants’ joint trial, Robert Glenn testified that he and defendants shared the beliefs of the Aryan Brotherhood and Nazi Low Riders, White prison gangs, and that because the victim violated those beliefs by committing a sex offense, Glenn and defendants killed him while they were all incarcerated.
The Aryan Brotherhood is a White prison gang, and the Nazi Low Riders is another White prison gang that performs services for the Aryan Brotherhood.
A “peckerwood” or “wood” is a White inmate who has some allegiance to the Aryan Brotherhood or the Nazi Low Riders or their beliefs.
Because most Aryan Brotherhood members are in segregated housing, Nazi Low Riders and “good woods” – peckerwoods who abide by the prison rules for White inmates as established by the Aryan Brotherhood operate in the prison according to Aryan Brotherhood dictates.
A wood who wants to associate with a prison gang works for it by, for example, delivering notes written between inmates (“kites”) and reporting violations of the Aryan Brotherhood’s rules. Those rules include not tolerating – and indeed, killing – inmates involved in sex offenses such as child molestation and rape.
A wood shows loyalty to, and earns respect from, a prison gang by murdering someone the gang wants murdered
Glenn, who admitted to being defendants’ accomplice, confirmed in testimony that the Aryan Brotherhood is a White prison gang that establishes rules for and seeks control over White inmates. He said that those rules include not sharing a cup or cigarette with a Black inmate, not testifying against another about a crime, and not tolerating people who commit crimes against children and women, such as rapists. The evidence suggests that the prison gang has its own structure, economy and rules. Gang members, within, and even outside of, the prison system, have developed an operation that in many instances evades prison rules and the law.
Before trial, the prosecutor argued that gang evidence was relevant to establish defendants’ motive for killing Hampton. At trial, Glenn and the People’s expert witness testified that a “wood,” regardless of whether or not he is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood or Nazi Low Riders, can gain respect and other benefits from White prison gangs by killing those who break the gang’s code of conduct, which code includes a prohibition on committing sex offenses. Glenn testified that Hampton was killed because he was a rapist.
According to White prison gang mores, the penalty for the sex offense was death. The gang evidence thus explained why defendants would kill a fellow White inmate with whom they apparently had little or no contact. It showed why four inmates on a White segregated row would plot to kill another White inmate, and it explained the relationship between the culprits and why they were willing to assist in the murder. This in turn is relevant to the perpetrators’ identity and their intent. The gang evidence here went to more than just bias or to create prejudice in the absence of probative value. It explained the reason for the murder.
Although there was no evidence concerning the KKK’s beliefs and whether they require sex offenders to be killed, the tattoo did have some relevance to establishing Beattie’s relationship to the White prison gangs and to show he agreed with their principles
At trial, Glenn testified that Beattie was not a member of either the Aryan Brotherhood or the Nazi Low Riders, but he was a “wood.”
The People, v. Jason Schmaus et al. Court of Appeal of the State of California (extracts)
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