Closing arguments began Monday in the trial of a man charged with being in a United States gang that played the ultra-violent Grand Theft Auto video game by day then robbed and murdered by night.
Demarcus Ralls (21) sat between his defence attorneys as prosecutor Darryl Stallworth told jurors that Ralls and other ”Nut Case” gang members terrorised the city of Oakland near San Francisco from late 2002 into early 2003.
”We are talking about a group of people working as an extension of each other,” Stallworth said as he urged the panel to find Ralls guilty of a set of deadly crimes punishable by execution.
If jurors convict Ralls as charged and agree with Stallworth that he be sentenced to die, Ralls would become the youngest person sent to death row in California since the penalty was revived about 30 years ago.
While roving streets with other ”Nut Cases,” Ralls shot four people dead and robbed eleven, according to the case presented by Stallworth.
Ralls is also charged with two attempted murders, a half-dozen attempted robberies, a kidnapping, and shooting into a home.
Among the victims was Sunny Thach, who was fetching a bag of baby clothing from a car outside his home when Ralls put a bullet in the man’s head during a robbery.
The attacks took place on five nights spread out over six weeks beginning in November 2002, according to Stallworth.
Stallworth told jurors that this wasn’t a matter of piecing together forensic evidence in a manner shown in television crime shows such as CSI Miami, because Ralls confessed and his words are in evidence.
Ralls and five fellow ”Nut Cases” killed and robbed for the fun of it, Stallworth argued in the Oakland courtroom of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner.
After being captured by police, members of the purported gang told detectives that they wiled away time doing drugs and playing Grand Theft Auto III, a game in which the main character commits street crimes.
”Nut Cases” reportedly told police they spiced up the game by taking it from the virtual to the real world.
The reputed leader of the gang, 28-year-old Leon Wiley, had a tattoo of the Planters peanuts logo Mr Peanut.
The gang targeted immigrants and street-level drug dealers, according to investigators. Ralls was the first of six accused ”Nut Case” gang members to face trial.
The trial of Ralls has moved swiftly, with lead defence attorney Deborah Levy opting at times to ask no questions of witnesses.
Levy appeared to be saving her credibility with jurors for the potential penalty phase, in which the panel would have to decide whether to punish Ralls by execution or life in prison.
”Just don’t kill him,” Levy said of her trial strategy. – Sapa-AFP