Man Convicted of Murdering Gang Members

A Diamond Street gang member from Los Angeles was convicted of second-degree murder Wednesday in the slayings of two F-Troop gang members in Santa Ana in a turf dispute three years ago.

After the verdict, Ray Anthony Pina, 24, told his sobbing mother he would be all right. He took the news more calmly than did his attorney, Larry B. Bruce of Huntington Beach.

“I’m just blown away,” Bruce said. “If the jury had come back with voluntary manslaughter, I would have thought, OK. But I really thought we had a shot at a self-defense not guilty. No way did I expect murder.”

According to court testimony, Pina was part of three carloads of Diamond Street members from the Echo Park area of Los Angeles. They went to Santa Ana at 3 a.m. on Sept. 8, 1984, accompanied by six young women from downtown Santa Ana.

Gangs Clashed

Their presence apparently led to an outbreak of violence. Witnesses testified that Pina jumped from a car and began firing.

Killed in the melee were Frank Villa, 21, and Tony Silerio, 18, both F-Troop gang members from Santa Ana. Arthur Luevano, 20, also a member of F-Troop, was wounded and still has a bullet in his neck.

Pina was also convicted Wednesday of the attempted murder of Luevano.

The prosecutor had originally sought first-degree murder convictions, which could have resulted in a sentence of life without parole. However, Superior Court Judge Jean H. Rheinheimer dismissed those charges against Pina before the case reached the jury, ruling that there was no evidence of premeditation.

Defense attorney Bruce had said that F-Troop members were rocking the cars and that Pina and his friends feared for their lives.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles J. Middleton presented evidence showing that the Diamond Street members deliberately drove their cars slowly in attempt to coax F-Troop members into a fight.

“The jurors were convinced that the Diamond Street gang came here deliberately looking for trouble,” Middleton said.

Fear Factor Alleged

But Bruce contended that the jurors may have been subconsciously influenced by what he called “an unspoken piece of evidence”--a new fear of people who carry guns in cars because of a recent flurry of random shootings and violence on Southland freeways.

Middleton scoffed at the argument and said no jurors mentioned it. But Bruce said jurors were probably unaware of the influence.

“I’m certain this jury tried to be as fair and as just as they possibly could,” Bruce said. “But everybody I know says if you go on the freeway, you’d better put on your bulletproof vest. I think it was a factor.”

Because Pina has a prior record--a voluntary manslaughter conviction in Los Angeles when he was 18--he could face nearly 40 years in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 16.