{ "id": 1443737, "name": "Michael F. JOHNINSON v. STATE of Arkansas", "name_abbreviation": "Johninson v. State", "decision_date": "1994-07-05", "docket_number": "CR 93-1289", "first_page": "431", "last_page": "444", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "317 Ark. 431" }, { "type": "parallel", "cite": "878 S.W.2d 727" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "Ark.", "id": 8808, "name": "Arkansas Supreme Court" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 34, "name_long": "Arkansas", "name": "Ark." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "39 A.L.R.4th 775", "category": "reporters:specialty", "reporter": "A.L.R. 4th", "year": 1985, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "546 F.2d 1254", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F.2d", "case_ids": [ 1010097 ], "year": 1977, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/f2d/546/1254-01" ] }, { "cite": "471 U.S. 1103", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "U.S.", "case_ids": [ 6356579, 6357220, 6357734, 6358599, 6360040, 6358408, 6357482, 6356778, 6359182, 6359026, 6358003, 6358231, 6356984, 6359481, 6358876, 6359742 ], "year": 1985, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/us/471/1103-01", "/us/471/1103-04", "/us/471/1103-06", "/us/471/1103-10", "/us/471/1103-16", "/us/471/1103-09", "/us/471/1103-05", "/us/471/1103-02", "/us/471/1103-13", "/us/471/1103-12", "/us/471/1103-07", "/us/471/1103-08", "/us/471/1103-03", "/us/471/1103-14", "/us/471/1103-11", "/us/471/1103-15" ] }, { "cite": "735 F.2d 1242", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F.2d", "case_ids": [ 581217 ], "year": 1984, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/f2d/735/1242-01" ] }, { "cite": "290 Ark. 595", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1873745 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1986, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/290/0595-01" ] }, { "cite": "748 S.W.2d 117", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.W.2d", "case_ids": [ 1893800, 1895710 ], "year": 1988, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/295/0131-01", "/ark/294/0659-01" ] }, { "cite": "295 Ark. 131", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1893800 ], "year": 1988, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/295/0131-01" ] }, { "cite": "302 Ark. 532", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1884276 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1990, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/302/0532-01" ] }, { "cite": "258 Ark. 425", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1621179 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1975, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "prosecutor's investigation of prospective jurors held work product and subject to independent investigation by defense" }, { "parenthetical": "prosecutor's investigation of prospective jurors held work product and subject to independent investigation by defense" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/258/0425-01" ] }, { "cite": "306 Ark. 193", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1900929 ], "weight": 3, "year": 1991, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/306/0193-01" ] }, { "cite": "85 S.W. 410", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.W.", "year": 1905, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "74 Ark. 262", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 8720112 ], "year": 1905, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/74/0262-01" ] }, { "cite": "28 Ark. App. 146", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark. App.", "case_ids": [ 6138391 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1989, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark-app/28/0146-01" ] }, { "cite": "312 Ark. 106", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1935064 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1993, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/312/0106-01" ] }, { "cite": "534 N.E.2d 1330", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "N.E.2d", "weight": 2, "year": 1989, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "1335" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "469 U.S. 45", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "U.S.", "case_ids": [ 11958408 ], "weight": 3, "year": 1984, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "49" }, { "page": "54" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/us/469/0045-01" ] }, { "cite": "910 F.2d 1367", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F.2d", "case_ids": [ 10540848 ], "year": 1990, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/f2d/910/1367-01" ] }, { "cite": "976 F.2d 1349", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F.2d", "case_ids": [ 11293694 ], "year": 1992, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/f2d/976/1349-01" ] }, { "cite": "978 F.2d 1554", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F.2d", "weight": 2, "year": 1992, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "295 Ark. 456", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1893716 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1988, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/295/0456-01" ] }, { "cite": "308 Ark. 622", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1904358 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1992, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/308/0622-01" ] }, { "cite": "316 Ark. 153", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1907810 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1994, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/316/0153-01" ] }, { "cite": "314 Ark. 289", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1912737 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1993, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/314/0289-01" ] }, { "cite": "Ark. Code Ann. \u00a7 5-10-103", "category": "laws:leg_statute", "reporter": "Ark. Code Ann.", "year": 1993, "opinion_index": 0 } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 1187, "char_count": 23063, "ocr_confidence": 0.862, "pagerank": { "raw": 1.9680581576561231e-07, "percentile": 0.7389585261534553 }, "sha256": "0d33ebbc93bbd7294ab4dd64d82cb99d689447ed08c4c23fc3c1dba8174bd7ac", "simhash": "1:530bacf7173ec832", "word_count": 3746 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T18:37:34.960752+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [], "parties": [ "Michael F. JOHNINSON v. STATE of Arkansas" ], "opinions": [ { "text": "Jack Holt, Jr., Chief Justice.\nIn this appeal from his conviction as a habitual offender on a second-degree murder charge, for which he received a forty-year sentence, the appellant, Michael F. Johninson, raises two points for reversal. He contends that the trial court erred in (1) prohibiting him from introducing expert testimony regarding the culture and dynamics of urban street gangs and (2) denying his motion for discovery of the State\u2019s \u201cgang files.\u201d Neither point has merit, and we affirm the judgment.\nFacts\nLate in the afternoon of August 9, 1992, appellant Johninson and Frances Walton, a female companion, drove to the area near the intersection of Oak Street and 16th Street in Little Rock. Johninson intended to purchase some crack cocaine from either Michael Lairy or Michael Goins, two dealers in that vicinity from whom he had previously bought drugs. He spotted Lairy and motioned him to get into the car.\nAccording to Johninson\u2019s testimony, while he was waiting for Lairy, eighteen-year-old Sedrick Fowler and nineteen-year-old Marquis Bullock approached the vehicle on bicycles. Johninson stated that Fowler thrust his hand through the door window and displayed some drugs. The record indicates that, after Johninson told Fowler that \u201cI want to see Michael Lairy,\u201d some vulgar and heated words were exchanged. Meanwhile, Lairy got in the car, and Johninson drove him to the intersection of Oak Street and 15th Street.\nNot satisfied with the offered drugs, Johninson turned to pull the front seat forward to let Lairy out of the back seat, when Fowler and Bullock again approached the car. After Lairy\u2019s exit, Bullock struck Johninson on the side of the head. Testimony differed on whether the assailant hit Johninson with his fist or with a brick. Johninson testified that he was aware at the time that he was in a gang area controlled by the Oak Street Posse, a local organization reputedly affiliated with the Los Angeles-based Bloods, and that he had been informed that Fowler and Bullock were members of the gang. He also said that he was \u201cthinking that these guys are fixing to take my life\u201d and stated that Fowler was coming toward him with a shiny object in his hand.\nAs a result, Johninson reached for a gun and fired it from the open car window. The bullet struck Fowler in the chest and killed him. Bullock ran, several neighborhood youths began to come forward, and Johninson drove away. Some twenty-two days later, he was arrested by the police.\nOn September 14, 1992, the Prosecuting Attorney for the Sixth Judicial District filed an information charging Johninson with first-degree murder. In addition, the State sought sentencing enhancement on the basis that Johninson had been convicted of four or more felonies. The name \u201cJohnson\u201d had been used on the original information, and the prosecutor filed an amended information on November 20, 1992, correcting the spelling.\nA jury trial was held on August 6 and 7, 1993. Johninson was convicted of second-degree murder, in violation of Ark. Code Ann. \u00a7 5-10-103 (Repl. 1993), and was sentenced as a habitual offender to forty years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. From that judgment, this appeal arises.\n/. Expert testimony on street gangs\nIn his first point for reversal, Johninson argues that the trial court erred in refusing to allow Pulaski County Coroner Steve Nawojczyk to testify as an expert on urban street gangs. Both before and during the trial, the defense proffered Mr. Nawojczyk\u2019s testimony regarding, in general, gang loyalty, gang territorial control, and gang violence for the purposes of casting doubt on the credibility of the testimony of certain witnesses associated with the Oak Street Posse and showing that Johninson reasonably believed that Fowler would have used physical force against him had he not shot the youth. The trial court found that the testimony was irrelevant and would have invaded the province of the jury.\nThe trial court has wide discretion in evidentiary matters. Jones v. State, 314 Ark. 289, 862 S.W.2d 242 (1993). The standard of review for a trial court\u2019s ruling on the admissibility of expert testimony is abuse of discretion. Stewart v. State, 316 Ark. 153, 870 S.W.2d 752 (1994); Utley v. State, 308 Ark. 622, 826 S.W.2d 268 (1992). Expert testimony is admissible when it will aid the jury in understanding the evidence presented or in determining a fact in issue. Ark. R. Evid. 702 (1994); Harris v. State, 295 Ark. 456, 748 S.W.2d 666 (1988). An important consideration in deciding whether the testimony will aid the trier of fact is whether the subject is beyond the ability of a lay person to understand. Stewart v. State, supra.\nDuring the past few years, the nationwide proliferation of street gangs has captured the attention of the popular media, academic observers, and the legal system. The structures of urban gang life have been and are continuing to be explored in a growing body of work that embraces various disciplines. Studies of juvenile gang subcultures have contributed to the creation of specialized fields of sociological and criminological inquiry, which, through expert witnesses, are gaining some recognition in the nation\u2019s courts.\nIndeed, other jurisdictions have been developing case law on the use of expert testimony on gangs. For instance, in United States v. Robinson, 978 F.2d 1554 (10th Cir. 1992), cited by Johninson, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the admissibility of the testimony of a police officer appearing as an expert witness that various blue items found in an apartment where a drug manufacturing operation was discovered, as well as the defendants\u2019 blue outer clothing and underwear, led him to the conclusion that the defendants were members of the Crips gang. This evidence was used after the police investigation had been completed to explain the items found in the possession of the defendants, and the prosecution was subsequently able to connect gang membership to the uncontroverted evidence that the main purpose of the Crips was to traffic in crack cocaine. Significantly, the expert testimony focused on a single gang.\nIn another Tenth Circuit case, the testimony of a police detective who served as an expert witness was held admissible where he explained that the main purpose of the Black Mafia Crip Dawgs, a gang to which the defendant belonged, was to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine. United States v. Hartsfield, 976 F.2d 1349 (10th Cir. 1992). More generally, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has recognized that evidence of gang membership has probative value under appropriate circumstances, such as the establishment of a joint criminal venture. United States v. Lewis, 910 F.2d 1367 (7th Cir. 1990).\nThis latter view echoes the holding in United States v. Abel, 469 U.S. 45, 49 (1984), the centerpiece of Johninson\u2019s argument, where the United States Supreme Court declared that testimony by a fellow inmate showing that a defense witness and the defendant were both members of the same prison gang was \u201csufficiently probative\u201d of the witness\u2019s \u201cpossible bias\u201d toward the defendant to warrant its admission into evidence. The Court observed that\nThe attributes of the Aryan Brotherhood \u2014 a secret prison sect sworn to perjury and self-protection \u2014 bore directly not only on the fact of bias but also on the source and strength of [the witness\u2019s] bias. The tenets of this group showed that [the witness] had a powerful motive to slant his testimony towards [the defendant], or even commit perjury outright.\n469 U.S. at 54. (Emphasis in original.) In upholding the District Court\u2019s decision to admit the evidence of gang membership, the Supreme Court underscored the wide discretion accorded trial courts in determining the admissibility of evidence.\nAn Illinois appellate decision, In the Interest of C.L., 534 N.E.2d 1330 (Ill. App. 1 Dist. 1989), also cited by Johninson, has some bearing on the question of the reasonableness of his belief that he was in harm\u2019s way. There, two youths were charged with aggravated assault against two other persons. One of the victims was allowed to testify that the colors yellow and black, worn by the two defendants, were the colors of the Vice Lords street gang. The issue on appeal turned on the construction of the statutory term \u201creasonable,\u201d as employed in the Illinois Criminal Code of 1961, Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 12-1. The appellate court held that the victim\u2019s knowledge of the gang colors was \u201crelevant and admissible to show whether a reasonable person with that knowledge would have apprehended a battery from another who was wearing those colors, acting belligerently toward the person and a loved one and carrying a gun.\u201d 534 N.E.2d at 1335.\nUnder the circumstances of the present case, the cases relied upon by Johninson (Abel, Robinson, and Interest of C.L.) and the other authorities cited above are of no assistance to the appellant. To begin with, there was never any dispute concerning Mr. Nawojczyk\u2019s credentials as an expert witness on street gangs. The State\u2019s objections centered on relevance, and even under United States v. Robinson, supra, where expert testimony was admitted to aid the jury in understanding the primary purpose of a specific gang, it is difficult to discern the relevance of the proffered expert testimony here. Yet by no means do we intend to suggest that expert testimony on youth gangs is inappropriate. To the contrary, when its relevance has been demonstrated, expert testimony on the membership, organization, purposes, and conduct of particular street gangs may be admissible, though not, of course, in this instance.\nIn the present case, Mr. Nawojczyk commented on the \u201cfluid\u201d nature of gangs in general, remarking that \u201c[t]hey change.\u201d He admitted that he had no personal knowledge of the membership of either Sedrick Fowler or Marquis Bullock in the Oak Street Posse. Mr. Nawojczyk was unable to offer testimony on any specific tenets of the Oak Street Posse relating to perjury or self-protection. Further, he was unable to provide specific information on the penalties imposed by the Oak Street Posse for acts of disloyalty.\nThe broad overview of the urban gang subculture that the prospective expert witness provided, therefore, had no direct, particular reference to the victim and his associate. It is worth noting that an expert witness was not required in Johninson\u2019s central case, United States v. Abel, supra, to establish the \u201cpossible bias\u201d of prosecution witnesses \u2014 only a fellow gang member \u2014 and it seems unlikely that Mr. Nawojczyk\u2019s generalized testimony would have been of any more significant relevance to the question of bias in that situation than in the present case.\nWhere, in fact, possible bias was at issue here, expert testimony was unnecessary. The defense had ample opportunity to cross-examine the victim\u2019s alleged fellow gang members. On cross-examination, Michael Lairy acknowledged that the \u201ckids that been brought up in the neighborhood . . . help each other\u201d to the extent of doing \u201c[w]hatever it takes,\u201d including hurting those who \u201cdiss\u201d (show disrespect toward) or \u201cjump\u201d (attack) them. He conceded that his group of friends was known to the police as the Oak Street Posse. Marquis Bullock stated that he struck Johninson on the head with his fist (Johninson claims it was a blow with a brick) just before the shooting because Fowler, who had been \u201chaving, like, words\u201d with Johninson, was angry, and \u201che was like a brother to me, and we just took up for each other.\u201d Moreover, Officer Kenny Baer of the Little Rock Police Department testified that both Fowler and Bullock had informed him that they were members of the Oak Street Posse.\nIn sum, the jury had before it a concentrated statement of the \u201ccode of the streets,\u201d not from Steve Nawojczyk \u2014 an outsider who had attained a measure of expertise in the subject \u2014 but from two avowed affiliates of a local group known by the name \u201cOak Street Posse\u201d and a police officer who, unlike the expert, had actually known the victim and his friend. Obviously, the expert could have shed no greater light on witness credibility than the witnesses themselves. If there was any relevant aspect of gang behavior that might have posed an impediment to the jurors\u2019 understanding, the witnesses provided the necessary clarification. As this court has long held, the determination of the credibility of witnesses is a function of the jury. Scroggins v. State, 312 Ark. 106, 848 S.W.2d 400 (1993). What would have amounted to expert testimony by Mr. Nawojczyk on witness credibility would have constituted an invasion of the jury\u2019s province. See Utley v. State, supra. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to admit expert testimony on gang loyalty and witness bias.\nNeither did the trial court abuse its discretion in refusing to admit the proffered expert testimony regarding the propensity of street gangs toward violence in order to demonstrate that Johninson had a reasonable belief that Sedrick Fowler was about to employ unlawful deadly force against him. The defense proceeded at trial under the defense of justification, which is a matter of intent and a question of fact for the jury. See Taylor v. State, 28 Ark. App. 146, 771 S.W.2d 318 (1989), citing Ringer v. State, 74 Ark. 262, 85 S.W. 410 (1905).\nAlthough the Illinois decision cited earlier, In the Interest of C.L., supra, appears at first glance to have some relevance to the present situation, the case is readily distinguishable. There, the testimony concerning gang colors in relation to the reasonable belief of imminent harm came from one of the victims rather than from one of the assailants. In the present case, Johninson was able to testify at length about his state of mind at the time of the shooting. As mentioned before, Johninson stated that after he had been struck in the head with a brick by Bullock, he saw Fowler approaching him with what appeared to be a shiny object in his hand. He testified that he believed that Fowler and Bullock intended to \u201ctake my life.\u201d He also averred that he knew that he was in gang territory; that Fowler, Bullock, and Lairy were members of a gang; that gang members had no respect for life; and that he was aware of what gang members were capable of doing. The jury had before it sufficient evidence from which it could draw its own conclusions with respect to Johninson\u2019s defense of justification. Under the circumstances, an expert witness could have added nothing to Johninson\u2019s first-person account.\nWhen justification is offered as a defense, evidence of a victim\u2019s violent character is relevant to the issue of which party was the aggressor and whether the accused reasonably believed himself to be in danger of suffering unlawful deadly force. Thompson v. State, 306 Ark. 193, 813 S.W.2d 249 (1991). Johninson had the right to introduce specific instances illustrative of Fowler\u2019s violent character that were directed at him or that were within his knowledge. Id. He did so in referring to the shiny object that he claimed he saw in the victim\u2019s hand. It would appear, however, that Johninson wished to use expert testimony on gang conduct in general in order to establish, inferentially, the violent character of Fowler in particular. Such an expansion of the methods of proving character is not contemplated by the language of Ark. R. Evid. 405.\nTo reiterate, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to admit expert testimony on urban street gangs.\nII. Disclosure of \u201cgang files \u201d\nFor his second point on appeal, Johninson contends that the trial court erred in refusing to order the prosecution to disclose its files concerning particular individuals and their suspected affiliation with area gangs. At a pretrial hearing on November 2, 1992, the defense made an oral motion requesting discovery of files maintained by the prosecutor\u2019s office containing information on the suspected gang membership of certain individuals in order to show that \u201cthe majority of the witnesses in this case\u201d belonged to the same gang. The trial court denied the motion on the basis that any such files constituted work product of the prosecuting attorney unrelated to the present case; that they did not comprise exculpatory material to which the defense was entitled; and that they consisted of information which the defense could gather on its own.\nThe motion was later made again and was again denied. In response to a renewed motion at the outset of the trial, the deputy prosecutor stated that although the prosecutor\u2019s office maintained files on street gangs, it had no information \u201con these particular witnesses in this case, or the victim in this case.\u201d In other words, the material that Johninson sought by discovery apparently did not exist. Hence, he could not have been prejudiced by the trial court\u2019s denial of his motion.\nFurther, the prosecutor\u2019s gang files were exempt from discovery as work product under Ark. R. Crim. P. 17.5(a) (1994), which provides:\nExcept as provided in Rule 17.1 (a)(i) [names and addresses of persons whom the prosecutor intends to call as witnesses] and (iv) [reports or statements of experts made in connection with the particular case], disclosure shall not be required of research or of records, correspondence, reports or memoranda to the extent that they contain the opinions, theories or conclusions of the prosecuting attorney or members of his staff or other state agents.\nThe defense in the present case had available to it the names of all of the witnesses to the killing and could have taken upon itself the investigation of the matter of gang affiliation. See, analogously, Turner v. State, 258 Ark. 425, 527 S.W.2d 580 (1975) (prosecutor\u2019s investigation of prospective jurors held work product and subject to independent investigation by defense). A defendant in a criminal case cannot rely upon discovery as a substitute for his own investigation. Morris v. State, 302 Ark. 532, 792 S.W.2d 288 (1990); David v. State, 295 Ark. 131, 748 S.W.2d 117 (1988); Dumond v. State, 290 Ark. 595, 721 S.W.2d 663 (1986).\nJohninson acknowledges that part of the gang information sought through discovery was revealed in Officer Baer\u2019s testimony at trial that Fowler and Bullock had told him they were members of the Oak Street Posse. Even so, he argues, the information came too late to be of use in the defense preparation for trial. But, as counsel conceded in a colloquy with the trial court, the defense had been furnished with Officer Baer\u2019s name prior to trial. Moreover, Officer Baer stated that defense counsel had not interviewed him about his testimony before the trial began. Johninson cannot complain now of untimely revelations.\nIn any event, Johninson already had access to the information he requested through his discovery motion. He testified himself that he knew Fowler, Bullock, and Lairy were gang members. Defense counsel stated in a hearing held on May 13, 1993, that he had lists which, though inadmissible, showed that \u201ca number of these people are gang members.\u201d The defense conducted extensive cross-examinations of State witnesses at trial. It is incumbent upon the appellant to demonstrate actual prejudice resulting from an asserted discovery violation. Morris v. State, supra. No prejudice has been shown.\nUnder Ark. R. Crim. P. 17.1(d) (1994):\nSubject to the provisions of Rule 19.4 [concerning protective orders], the prosecuting attorney shall, promptly upon discovering the matter, disclose to defense counsel any material or information within his knowledge, possession, or control, which tends to negate the guilt of the defendant as to the offense charged or would tend to reduce the punishment therefor.\nWhile the State is obliged by the rule to disclose to the defendant any exculpatory evidence, the prosecution should not be required to disclose information already in the possession of the defendant or obtainable through the exercise of reasonable diligence. See Jarrell v. Balkcom, 735 F.2d 1242 (11th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1103 (1985); United States v. Prior, 546 F.2d 1254 (5th Cir. 1977).\nThe trial court did not err in refusing to order the prosecution to disclose its gang files to the defense.\nAffirmed.\nSee, e.g., Elijah Anderson, \u201cThe Code of the Streets,\u201d 273 Atlantic Monthly 80-94 (May 1994); Alan C. Brantley, Andrew DiRosa, \u201cGangs: A National Perspective,\u201d 63 FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 1-6 (May 1994); Catherine H. Conly, Street Gangs: Current Knowledge and Strategies (National Institute of Justice, August 1993); Herbert C. Covey, Scott Menard, Robert J. Franzcse, Juvenile Gangs (Springfield, III.: Charles C. Thomas, 1992); Jeffrey Fagan, \u201cThe Social Organization of Drug Use and Drug Dealing among Urban Gangs,\u201d 27 Criminology 633-69 (November 1989); John M. Hagedorn, \u201cGangs, Neighborhoods, and Public Policy,\u201d 38 Social Problems 529-42 (November 1991); C. Ronald Huff, cd., Gangs in America (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1990); Mart\u00edn S\u00e1nchez Jankowski, Islands in the Streets: Gangs and American Urban Society (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991); Richard G. Zcvitz, Susan R. Takata, \u201cMclropolitan Gang Influence and (he Emergence of Group Delinquency in a Regional Community,\u201d 20 Journal of Criminal Justice 93-106 (1992).\nA good working definition of \u201cgangs\u201d appears in John E. Theuman, Annotation, Admissibility of Evidence of Accused\u2019s Membership in Gang, 39 A.L.R.4th 775, 776 n. 1 (1985): \u201c[G]roups of persons which are reputed to engage in unlawful or antisocial activity, and which have no conventionally recognizable political or social purpose.\u201d The annotation also contains a useful collection of cases regarding testimony about membership in particular gangs. Throughout the article, relevance is emphasized as the critical factor with respect to admissibility.\nWe note that, in its brief, the State made no effort to address the issues raised in \u2014 or even to acknowledge with citations \u2014 the Abel, Robinson, and Interest of C.L. decisions, which we have analyzed above, along with other relevant cases. The State chose to rely, instead, on general language in Arkansas cases dealing with expert testimony, e.g., Utley v. State, supra.\nThe same point has been made by Catherine H. Conly in her report for the National Institute of Justice, where she wrote that \u201cConsiderable variation exists in gang membership, organization, involvement in crime, and the social contexts in which gangs thrive. . . . [G]angs cannot be stereotyped.\u201d Street Gangs: Current Knowledge and Strategies, supra, at 5. Similarly, Covey, Menard, and Franzese stress \u201cthe wide variation in the nature of gangs and gang behavior.\u201d Juvenile Gangs, supra, at ix.", "type": "majority", "author": "Jack Holt, Jr., Chief Justice." } ], "attorneys": [ "William R. Simpson, Jr., Public Defender, by: Jerry J. Sailings, Deputy Public Defender, for appellant.", "Winston Bryant, Att\u2019y Gen., by: Vada Berger, Asst. Att\u2019y Gen., for appellee." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "Michael F. JOHNINSON v. STATE of Arkansas\nCR 93-1289\n878 S.W.2d 727\nSupreme Court of Arkansas\nOpinion delivered July 5, 1994\nWilliam R. Simpson, Jr., Public Defender, by: Jerry J. Sailings, Deputy Public Defender, for appellant.\nWinston Bryant, Att\u2019y Gen., by: Vada Berger, Asst. Att\u2019y Gen., for appellee." }, "file_name": "0431-01", "first_page_order": 457, "last_page_order": 470 }