BARTOW | A jury Tuesday acquitted a 29-year-old Auburndale man who was accused of using an online rap video to advertise a local gang.
Florida law allows people to be charged criminally if they are promoting gang activity, and Daniel "Lucky" Barajas' trial was the first of its kind in Polk County.
Rap music thumped out of speakers Tuesday in the courtroom. A large screen television showed images of young men flashing hand signs and wearing red bandannas.
Prosecutors argued the pictures and music amounted to marketing material for a local gang.
But after an hour of deliberations, the jury found Barajas not guilty of making an electronic communication for criminal gang activity.
The third-degree felony carried a maximum of five years in prison.
Last year, three other men were arrested on similar charges that they used online music videos to recruit gang members, but accepted plea deals to resolve their cases.
During Tuesday's opening statements, Barajas' lawyer, Gail Cheatwood, told jurors that gangster rap is controversial but is also artistic expression.
She said the music with its catchy beats and poetry has been big business for popular performers.
"It's entertainment," Cheatwood said. "It's not recruiting members."
But prosecutors argued Barajas was promoting himself as a member of the Westside 7.
"This is a criminal gang," said Assistant State Attorney Victoria Avalon. "It's not a young men's social club."
Avalon told jurors that Barajas' music video subtly promoted the gang using images of money, power and loyalty.
"It's like the mafia holding up a ‘help wanted' sign," Avalon said.
The Westside 7, a Wahneta-based group, isn't highly organized, doesn't have a clear command structure, and usually emulates traditions and symbols of much larger national gangs, Avalon said.
The Westside 7 engages in criminal acts, including fighting other local gangs and spraying graffiti to mark their turf, Avalon said.
In addition, the group was linked to a March 2008 shooting at an Auburndale flea market where two innocent bystanders were injured amid gunfire, Avalon said.
An undercover investigator testified that a young man was likely mistaken as a Westside 7 member and fatally shot during a December 2007 party at a recreation center in Bartow.
In her closing argument, Avalon said the right to freedom of speech doesn't extend to "gang propaganda."
"Those rights aren't absolute," Avalon said. "They are limited. Advertising a criminal gang is where free speech stops."
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