Theresa looks straight ahead, holding her eyes wide open to stop the tears. Raquel isn't as successful.
"When did the Deuce-Seven start?" Sargent asks.
"My cousins started the gang in 1988."
Sargent asks if he's aware of his aunt and cousin in the spectator gallery.
"Yes," he answers softly. He looks down at his feet.
"Is this easy for you?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Sammy's voice cracks. "Regardless of what took place, they're still family. This is difficult to do however you look at it."
Sargent asks about the inner leadership of the Deuce-Seven, the crux of the prosecution's case against Danny. That he called the shots. That there is no rhubarb-pie defense.
Sammy says the top members were Danny, Antonio and Francisco. "Bang and Boom. And Pancho. I was right up there, also."
"Who was at the top?" Sargent asks.
"Danny and Antonio...I see Danny as having more authority."
Sargent asks who gave Frank Vigil the nickname "Little Bang."
"Danny did."
"And what does that signify, 'Little Bang'?"
"Within the gang world or on the streets, names carry weight with other individuals doing the same thing. To be called 'Little Bang' gets respect, an extra card."
"Did Danny have the ability to tell others what to do?"
"His word would not be questioned too often," Sammy answers.
Sargent asks if Danny had the influence to stop something he didn't approve of.
"Yeah."
"Are you still a member of the Deuce-Seven?"
"No."
"When did that change?"
"At the exact moment when I chose to do what I'm doing."
Sammy admits that when he was first arrested, he chose not to talk. But after two days in jail, he had "a change of heart" and told the authorities that he would talk with a lawyer present.
"I made the decision to come clean regarding all aspects of my life."
"Are you aware of the potential consequences of your cooperation?'
"It could put numerous people in danger."
"Who?"
"My family. Myself. Possibly my own cousins who are still with the gang...I think about that every day. I've had to weigh it against what's right."
"Why are you cooperating?"
"It's what needed to be done," Sammy replies. "It took all of this to make me find myself...to leave the gang life."
Sargent notes that Sammy made a deal that eliminated the possibility of the death penalty. "Is that the only reason?"
"No. I wanted to be able to look in the mirror and know I had a conscience."
Sammy testifies that the girl he now knows as Brandy was brought to the house by David Warren. "He was the first through the door. He said he had a girl who was down to have sex with everyone."
"Any idea of when they met her, how they got her into their car?"
"No."
"What happened then?"
"Two seconds afterward, other members of the gang came in, and one had his arm around Brandy."
"Did you know her name?"
Sammy shakes his head. "I didn't know her name until I read it in the newspaper."
Sargent asks about the position of Brandy's head as she entered the room.
"Downward," Sammy recalls. "As if she was blocking her face. She was led toward the bathroom."
"She introduced to the other two girls?"
"She wasn't introduced to anyone." In the bathroom there was a discussion about who had cocaine.
"Why?"
"Because she wanted some." Earlier in the trial, David Warren had testified that his cocaine was given to the girl. But Sammy claims it was his.
Sargent asks if the cocaine was for his own use.
Sammy shakes his head. "No. I bought it earlier to sell." Although gangs like the Bloods and Crips sell cocaine for their livelihood, Sammy says it is a "violation" for members to use it.
"How is the word 'violation' used in gangs?" Sargent asks.
"It means not acceptable."
After Brandy was given cocaine, Francisco Martinez took the girl's clothes off and carried her into Uncle Joe's bedroom and put her on the bed.
"Does Brandy say something?"
"She says that before she does anything, she wants to make a phone call."
Sammy was the only one in the house with a telephone. He asked her for the number and began dialing, then "made a decision not to let her make a telephone call."
"Why?" Sargent asked.
"I don't know," Sammy shrugs. He'd loaned his telephone to another girl at the house that night, and she had used it to call some other guy. "I didn't know who she would call, and I chose not to let her."
Sargent asks if his refusal seemed to frighten Brandy.
"There was a change in her demeanor," Sammy concedes.
"Did somebody then have sex with her?"
Sammy nods. "Yes, at that point I took the initiative and had sex."
"What kind?" It is important for the prosecution to establish this for what will come later.
"Vaginal sex," he says. He used a condom and when he finished he left the room.
The jury is beginning to look uncomfortable as Sammy's testimony moves inexorably toward the horror they've already encountered through Uncle Joe's account.
