Sonoma County judge must decide if bikers can wear insignia in court

A Sonoma County Superior Court judge is weighing security concerns in his courtroom against the free speech rights of members of a motorcycle group charged with a gang crime.

The case, felony battery charges filed Wednesday against two Hells Angels Motorcycle Club members, also raises the issue of whether the group meets the legal definition of a criminal street gang -- an issue that may never have been addressed in Sonoma County.

Jonathan Nelson of Healdsburg is charged with four felonies and Mark Guardado Sr. of San Francisco with three similar charges in connection with an altercation Feb. 10 in Petaluma.

Both also face a separate charge of participating in a criminal street gang and other gang enhancements that could add several years of prison time if they are convicted, Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Brady said.

Anne Keck, an attorney representing the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, said local detectives believe the Sonoma County chapter of the motorcycle group was involved in a fatal shooting on Highway 101 last week in which a Hells Angels associate was killed. A Marin County Sheriff's Department spokesman declined to comment on any connection to the local club.

Keck said Nelson is the vice president of the Sonoma County chapter and Guardado is president of the San Francisco chapter.

Nelson's attorney, Martin Woods, said the Hells Angels don't qualify as a gang.

"I don't think the Hells Angels Motorcycle Cub qualifies as a criminal street gang, the primary purpose of which is to engage in criminal activity," he said.

Brady said other Superior Courts in California have ruled that the motorcycle club is a gang, though he said he wasn't sure if any Sonoma County judges had made that determination.

"It has not happened in recent memory," he said.

But before charges were even filed, the case was causing a stir over the defendants' free speech rights in connection with their attire.

On Wednesday, Nelson and Guardado sat outside the courtroom as their case was called after having been told at two prior hearings they could not enter wearing insignia depicting their Hells Angels membership, Woods said.

Keck asked Judge Ken Gnoss to prohibit the men from wearing clothing with any Hells Angels patches, signs or insignia, arguing the symbols are meant to intimidate and threaten.

The sheriff's department provides security in the courthouse and occasionally ejects people for inappropriate clothing or behavior.

At previous hearings, Woods said, the men wore the same items -- Nelson a white T-shirt paying homage to a dead friend with the group's "death head" emblem on it, and Guardado a black nylon jacket with a small red emblem embroidered on the chest.

The death head emblem, a trademarked logo of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corp., is a horned skull wearing an ornate helmet.

A Petaluma police gang detective testified that the mouth of the skull is sewn shut as a symbol that members of the group are supposed to keep their mouths shut. Detective Jason Lechleiter said he had extensive training in gang symbols, but acknowledged he is not an expert in the Hells Angels.

Woods said the men had behaved impeccably during the three hearings and suggested only those in the know about Hells Angels activity would understand the group's use of symbols.

Gnoss will hear additional evidence and issue a ruling June 25, when both men may enter pleas to the charges.

The issue of whether the Hells Angels are a street gang as defined by state law likely will surface at future hearings.

Woods raised the issue Wednesday on whether it was appropriate to charge Nelson and Guardado with gang charges. Prosecutor David Barkhurst said other Hells Angels members have been charged as gangsters, but he said he was unsure whether those resulted in convictions.

Law enforcement has long considered the group a criminal enterprise. The Hells Angels were formed in 1948 and for a time, law enforcement has said, controlled the methamphetamine trade and have a history of intimidating witnesses and violent behavior.

Club members, though, have said their group is a social organization. In Sonoma County, the group hosts motorcycle rides several times a year and has organized a Toys for Tots gift drive for nearly a decade.

The free speech issue in connection with Hells Angels apparel isn't new in Sonoma County. In 1998, a Vallejo club member sued Sonoma County after he was ejected from the fair for wearing his Hells Angels vest, which security determined to be gang attire.

In 2002, a state appeals court ruled in the man's favor, saying a dress code targeting gang members was unconstitutionally vague. But the court also said fair operators had the authority to ban distinctive insignia that have been shown to incite violence.

Staff writer L.A. Carter can be reached at 568-5312 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.