Brandon Thomas Mundell, 28, of the San Fernando Valley is on trial in Ventura County Superior Court, charged with assault with a deadly weapon, exhibiting a weapon, driving while intoxicated and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent.
Trial of a Hells Angel motorcycle club member, the prosecution told jurors the defendant walked into a now-closed bar in Newbury Park spoiling for a fight with rival gang members and telling patrons he was going to "take over" the bar.
"He went over there with a chip on his shoulder looking for something to happen," said prosecutor Derek Malan.Mundell's lawyer, however, told jurors the prosecution wanted them to believe that his client used a 4-inch knife to take over an entire bar that could have been "potentially infested" with rival gang members and that he set out to do it with the help of two bikers who weren't even Hells Angels.
From 75 to 150 patrons were in the bar, noted the defense attorney, Dino Inumerable.
The jury received the case late Friday afternoon and was expected to return Monday.
Prosecutors allege Mundell committed a crime for the benefit of the Hells Angels, which a gang expert testified is a violent criminal organization.Malan said Mundell is a member of the Hells Angels' San Fernando Valley chapter, and he and two other bikers went to the Take Five Bar and got into a fight with patrons at 1:40 a.m. Jan. 19, 2006.The prosecutor said the trio went to the bar — allegedly frequented by members of a rival group, the Mongols — to challenge them to a brawl. The Mongols, who are said to have a chapter in Camarillo, were apparently not at the bar that night.Part of the incident was captured by a video surveillance camera inside the bar, and about 20 minutes of the videotape was shown to jurors as evidence.
Malan said Mundell wanted jurors to think he was the victim and the "entire bar" was against him."He plays victim," Malan told jurors, adding that Mundell invoked the name of the Hells Angels and became violent because he felt he was being disrespected.Malan said Mundell struck a bar patron with a pool stick. Malan also said a witness testified that Mundell chased him with a knife outside the bar.
Inumerable said his client is guilty of not driving safely and having a blood-alcohol level of more than 0.08 percent, but, he said, prosecution witnesses made statements that were inconsistent and contradictory.Inumerable said the video shows Mundell drinking, smoking, talking to women and having a "normal conversation" — not appearing agitated.The attorney also said the incident involved only Mundell, not the Hells Angels club. He said the club's members have legitimate activities, including motorcycle trips and barbecues, and the more than 3,000 members shouldn't all be lumped in as criminals.
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