FRESNO, CA – A prosecutor has refiled charges of aggravated mayhem against two men accused of tattooing a gang sign on a 7-year-old boy, raising the possibility again that they could face life in prison if convicted.

The Fresno County district attorney’s filing Friday came two weeks after a judge ruled that Enrique Gonzalez and Travis Gorman should face the lesser charge of cruel and inhumane treatment of a child, rather than aggravated mayhem, a charge usually associated with disfiguring beatings, shootings and stabbings.

A prosecutor has refiled charges of aggravated mayhem against two men accused of tattooing a gang sign on a 7-year-old boy, raising the possibility again that they could face life in prison if convicted.

The Fresno County district attorney’s filing Friday came two weeks after a judge ruled that Enrique Gonzalez and Travis Gorman should face the lesser charge of cruel and inhumane treatment of a child, rather than aggravated mayhem, a charge usually associated with disfiguring beatings, shootings and stabbings.

Prosecutors say Gonzalez, 27, held his son down against his will while Gorman, 21, inked a quarter-sized gang insignia on the boy’s hip.

A judge on Friday dismissed charges of aggravated mayhem against two Fresno men who are accused of inking a gang tattoo on a 7-year-old boy, sparing them possible life sentences.

But Enrique Gonzalez, 27, the boy’s father, and Travis Gorman, 21, will be arraigned in court Oct. 16 on lesser charges of willful cruelty to a child with a gang enhancement that could carry prison terms of nearly eight years.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge Hilary Chittick said there is not enough evidence to support the aggravated mayhem charge against Gonzalez and Gorman, who allegedly held the boy down and inked a Bulldog gang insignia — a dog paw — on his right hip in April.

A prosecutor has refiled charges of aggravated mayhem against two men accused of tattooing a gang sign on a 7-year-old boy.

Friday’s filing by the Fresno County district attorney’s office is in spite of a judge’s ruling that Enrique Gonzalez and Travis Gorman should face the lesser charge of cruel and inhumane treatment of a child.

Each has pleaded not guilty to that charge and faces up to eight years in prison. Aggravated mayhem carries a possible life sentence.

Enrique Gonzalez wanted his 7-year-old son to have a gang tattoo, like the many that adorn his own body. About that there is no dispute.

The question that Fresno County Superior Court Judge Hilary Chittick says she will decide today is whether placing a tattoo on a minor is a permanent and painful disfigurement worthy of the potential life sentence that comes with a mayhem conviction, or is it something less?

Are there other procedures children routinely undergo that are decidedly more painful and permanent?

The move comes less than two weeks after a judge said there was insufficient evidence to try Enrique Gonzalez, 27, the boy’s father, and Travis Gorman, 21, on the charges — and it has infuriated their attorneys.

The refiled charges carry possible life sentences.

“The DA’s going to ignore the courts and proceed to a public lynching,” said attorney Manuel Nieto, who is representing Gorman.

Attorney Douglas Foster, who is representing Gonzalez, said he recalled this happening just one other time in his legal career.

“I’m not surprised,” he said of the move. “I’m offended.”

District Attorney Elizabeth Egan declined to comment directly on the case, but she said her office files charges “that are supported by evidence introduced at the preliminary hearing.”

Authorities say that earlier this year, Gonzalez held his son down against his will and Gorman inked a quarter-sized Bulldog gang insignia — a dog paw — on the boy’s right hip.

At a preliminary hearing this month, prosecutors argued that the tattoo was an injury that met the legal definition of aggravated mayhem.

The law says aggravated mayhem is intentionally causing permanent disability or disfigurement to a person with extreme indifference to their physical or psychological well-being.

But Foster said most cases of aggravated mayhem involve mutilation and wounds that require surgery.

Local defense attorney Jeff Hammerschmidt agreed.

Hammerschmidt, a former deputy district attorney who is not involved in this case, said the action by the District Attorney’s Office is rare — “and somewhat disrespectful to the judge who issued the order.”

“While it is truly despicable that a father would tattoo his young son with a gang symbol, it’s stretching the law to charge aggravated mayhem in this case,” Hammerschmidt said.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge Hilary Chittick ruled there was not enough evidence to support the aggravated mayhem charges against Gonzalez and Gorman.

She did, however, order the two men to stand trial on lesser charges of willful cruelty to a child with a gang enhancement.

Each man could face a prison term of nearly eight years on that charge.

On Friday, attorneys for both men entered not guilty pleas to the lesser charges, and Fresno County Superior Court Judge Rosendo Peña set a Dec. 10 hearing on those charges.

But Foster and Nieto also must prepare a motion on the refiled aggravated mayhem charge and seek a hearing.

No new evidence will be introduced, but Foster said he and Nieto face the task of showing why Chittick was right to dismiss the aggravated mayhem charge.

The argument will be made mostly in court filings and between attorneys. No witnesses will be called during the hearing. No hearing date has been set.

Source : Fresno Bee

David Clinger knows the sport of cycling from the highest of the highs to the lowest depths it brings.

He knows those valleys and peaks depend as much on personal choices as they do on talent.

It’s why, when asked if he’d heard about Chad Gerlach’s relapse into addiction, Clinger showed as much disappointment as sympathy.

“I kind of know what he’s been through,” said Clinger, himself a recovering drug addict now living in Utah where he’s trying to stay clean and renew his cycling career. “You have to decide what you want. You can decide to be clean and race, or not. If he decides he doesn’t want that, he can chose to live on the streets — whatever.”

Clinger, is a former U.S. Postal, Festina and Rock Racing cyclist who found himself in headlines as much as a result of his facial tattoos and substance abuse problems as his cycling accomplishments. He said he feels sad for Gerlach but that he’s not completely surprised to see the return to self-destructive behavior.

“You chose to be with the groups of people you associate with,” Clinger said. “He doesn’t have to do that. He doesn’t have to beg like that. He can work. He doesn’t have to do that, but that’s the choice he made. It’s the life he wants to live.”

Clinger could have made similar choices.

“I’ve learned my lesson,” Clinger said. “That’s not something I want anymore. Whatever I do, I just gotta stay off the drugs.”

And with the exception of one time — a particularly stressful day nearly eight months ago — Clinger said he’s been clean and sober for 13 months.

After landing in Utah where he stayed at a group home and underwent counseling and therapy, Clinger hooked up with the local Cole Sports cycling team and had a full season racing. He placed highly in the state criterium and time trial championships and, with the help of a new sponsor, raced at the U.S. Elite Road championships where he placed second in the road race and 20th in the time trial the next day.

He followed that up with a respectable showing in the Tour of Utah and had a fifth-place finish in the first stage but couldn’t quite keep up on the rugged mountain top finishes in subsequent stages.

The distinctive tattoos across his face are being removed — the process is a slow one and will take at least another year — and he said he’s trying to establish some positive consistency in his life.

Last week, at the request of a friend from the church he attends, he spoke in front of a group of teenagers at a juvenile detention facility in the Salt Lake area.

“It was good,” he said. “I talked to them about making choices and how they can overcome some of the bad things that have happened in their lives.”

While fielding plenty of questions about the tattoos, he also tried to show them they need not be limited by past mistakes.

“If they stay focused,” Clinger said, “they can get out and do whatever they want to do.”

Life, in many ways, is still a struggle for Clinger, though.

While he is now living with friends from church and not at the group home, he has been unsuccessful in finding steady work — “I don’t fit the image they want” — and is on food stamps and other public assistance. He lives in an apartment complex near a large shopping center and uses his custom-painted Giant bicycle to pedal from place to place.

But he is staying in shape and hopes to have an even more successful racing season in 2010.

“I’m slowly trying to get things lined up for next year,” he said. “I’ve talked to a few teams, but nothing concrete. Not really sure where I’ll be riding … I’m trying to keep my options open.”

Most importantly, the 31-year-old wants to stay clean and keep his dream of being a professional cyclist alive.

Source : VeloNews

FRESNO, CA – In a bizarre incident, a man was looking at a life sentence for having a quarter-sized gang sign tattooed on his 7-year-old son’s hip. However he was relieved to learn that the judge thought that the act was not aggravated mayhem, a charge normally reserved for crippling attacks.

Instead of a life term, Enrique Gonzalez and his friend Travis Gorman will face the lesser charge of cruel and inhumane treatment of a child, in which they might get up to seven years in prison.

“Hallelujah,” said Gorman’s mother-in-law, Alisa Quillen, whose says her own numerous tattoos tell the “story of my life.”

According to court records, during preliminary hearing testimony Monday, Fresno County Superior Court Judge Hillary Chittick questioned whether a small tattoo is a permanent and painful disfigurement worthy of a potential life sentence that comes with a mayhem conviction, then asked to think it over.

The defendants were not charged with the one major crime that defense attorneys thought that they deserved, which is making a tattoo on a child under 18, which in California is a big misdemeanor that carries a six-month sentence.

On Friday, Chittick, a former public defender, questioned Lacy over the legal definition of mayhem and whether a small tattoo, which is being removed, meets the test.

“Say I’m stabbed with a pencil and I have a mark on my hand, is it your contention that anything that creates a visible, permanent injury constitutes mayhem?” she asked.

“It shows this case isn’t about justice,” said Public Defender Manuel Nieto. “It’s about the DA’s ego.”

“Mr. Gonzalez recognizes he could have made a different choice,” Foster said. “As a parent myself, I realize you have to make hard decisions no matter how badly your kid wants something.”

Source : Thai Indian News

SPRINGFIELD, OH – Burglars broke into a tattoo parlor Tuesday, Oct. 6, allegedly taking anything of value — even stealing from a frame on the wall the first dollar the owner earned.

The break-in happened between 9:30 and 10 p.m. at Tattoos By Nate, 562 E. Main St.

Two men were arrested on charges connected to the incident. Jonathan M. Keeton, 22, of 1612 Woodward Ave., and Keith V. Ramey, 40, of 106 N. Greenmount Ave., were each charged with breaking and entering and aggravated robbery.

Police were investigating a separate incident in which a man was robbed on West High Street Tuesday when they obtained information that led them to Ramey’s residence, said Lt. Jim Hutchins, Springfield Police Division.

“They (officers) found property from the burglary at Nate’s,” said Hutchins.

The tattoo parlor’s owner, Nathan Roberts, 32, said he was cleaned out during the break-in.

“(The burglars) busted the frame on the wall with my license in it and took the first dollar I earned at my business,” said Roberts.

Roberts said he is missing tattoo machines, cell phones and computer equipment.

“I started with nothing and I’ve worked every day to get what I had,” he said. “It really gets to you…you feel really violated.”

The business is closed and may reopen in another week, said Roberts.

A third man was arrested, accused of helping Ramey and Keeton with the High Street robbery.

Daniel J. Miller, 34, of 106 N. Greenmount, was arrested on a charge of complicity to aggravated robbery.

All three men were taken to the Clark County Jail.

Source : Springfield News Sun

Former San Dimas mayor Terry Dipple will host his second annual Tattoos for the Cure on Saturday in his quest to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for cancers.

Dipple will open his tattoo shop, Ink’d Chronicles from noon to midnight, where tattoo artists will ink patrons, cancer survivors and family members who have been affected by breast cancer with pink cancer-awareness-ribbon tattoos.

“It’s just a really cool, fun and emotional event,” Dipple said. “The fact that they are around other people and sharing stories is a chance to kind of celebrate and talk with other people.”

Tattoos for the Cure had a poignant start for Dipple.

Originally looking for a way to celebrate his shop’s first anniversary, Dipple decided to dedicate the event to raising funds for the Robert and Beverly Lewis Family Care Center at the Pomona Valley Hospital, where his fiance had been receiving radiation treatment and undergoing surgery for breast cancer.

She was eventually deemed cancer free.

“It was an emotional time for all of us, and I wanted to do something to show my appreciation for the cancer care center and raise awareness for breast cancer,” Dipple said.

Last year, the event attracted almost 50 and raised $4,500 for the Breast Health Center at the Pomona Valley Hospital. The minimum donation is $80.

“My slogan is `Every tattoo has a story’ … because a tattoo really is a chronicle, a story in ink,” he said. “I didn’t
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think that it would really ring as true as it did as a result of last year’s Tattoos for the Cure because every one of those people who got a tattoo had a moving, emotional story behind the tattoo they were getting.”

Several attendees were grandmothers, mothers and daughters getting a tattoo in memory of a loved one who had passed away from cancer, Dipple said.

“We had one woman last year that got a pink ribbon and under it she had `Survivor’ written. Everyone was cheering. It was awesome,” he said. “Its something I really connected with.”

Knowing that breast cancer continues to be an ongoing battle with his fiance and other women, Dipple said he wants to expose the issue to a younger demographic, starting with his clients, who tend to be 20-35 years old.

“I just wanted to do it again this year, and hopefully it will be successful,” Dipple said. “It’s heartwarming and you know you’re doing something good.”

Source : SGV Tribune

AURORA, CO – While his two friends distracted a tattoo artist, Marquise Irvin snuck up behind the man and shot him twice, according to an arrest affidavit filed against one of the four people arrested in connection with the December slaying.

Irvin, 24, along with Kenneth Jefferson, 21, and Oladayo Ayo, 27, have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the December slaying of Oscar Mendez at an apartment near East 13th Avenue and Chambers Road. All three are behind bars awaiting trial.

Temeka Portis, 25, has been charged with being an accessory to murder and is free on $10,000 bond.

Police announced the arrests of the four suspects early this month.

According to an arrest affidavit filed against Portis, Irvin shot Mendez after a dispute involving a tattoo Mendez gave him Dec. 13 at Irvin’s apartment.

The accounts from the defendants as well as Mendez’s friends vary as to what exactly the dispute was about, but each witness police interviewed said the dispute started after Mendez gave Irvin the tattoo, which depicted a cross with a ribbon on it.

According to Irvin’s account, he planned to pay Mendez $180 for tattoo, money he said he planned to earn by selling crack cocaine.

Irvin said that while Mendez tattooed him, Mendez’s friends were in the apartment “drunk and acting stupid.” Mendez asked Irvin to give his friends a $20 piece of crack so they would go outside and smoke it.

A few minutes later, Mendez stepped outside the apartment to smoke a cigarette with his friends and when he returned, he was angry with Irvin.

Mendez later accused Irvin of giving his friends bad crack and refused to finish the tattoo.

Irvin said Mendez and his friend then pulled out knives and slashed Irvin’s hand, causing it to bleed profusely. Irvin told police that because he takes a blood thinner and because he was high on ecstasy that night, he passed out because of the bleeding.

Irvin told police it was either Jefferson or Ayo who later killed Mendez.

While Irvin, Richardson and Portis told police Mendez and his friends attacked Irvin with a knife, Mendez’s friends never mention a knife attack in their interviews with police.

Mendez’s friends told police that the argument started because Irvin refused to pay for the tattoo.

One of Mendez’s friends told police that after the fight over the tattoo, Irvin, Ayo and Richardson went to Mendez’s apartment, which is near Irvin’s apartment.

The three were upset about the earlier fight and were looking for Mendez, the friend said.

Jefferson and Ayo confronted Mendez and his friends in a hallway, the friend said, while Irvin approached from behind. The friend said he saw Irvin’s reflection in a window but by time he saw him, it was too late and Irvin shot Mendez.

Irvin is serving a five-year sentence in the Colorado Department of Corrections’ Crowley County Correctional facility on drug and assault charges, according to state records.

Irvin was sentenced to DOC on Sept. 28, just a few days before Aurora police charged him in connection with Mendez’s slaying.

Irvin, Jefferson and Ayo have been charged with first-degree murder and second-degree burglary, police said. They are each due in court later this month.

Jefferson and Ayo are being held in the Arapahoe County Jail without bond. Portis has been charged with being an accessory to first-degree murder and being an accessory to second-degree burglary.

Source : The Aurora Sentinel

Lady Gaga is known for her wild fashion sense and eccentric outfits — and in the new issue of Interview magazine, we see that her fashion sense doesn’t just apply to what she wears over her skin. The singer let the magazine follow her around Tokyo, where she got tattooed not once, but twice.

What’s the meaning behind her new ink? The tattoo on her inner arm is a tribute to her favorite writer. “That one commemorates my favorite writer, Rainer Maria Rilke, a poet and romantic philosopher,” Gaga told the mag. “In German he writes, ‘Confess to yourself in the deepest hour of the night whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. Dig deep into your heart, where the answer spreads its roots in your being, and ask yourself solemnly, Must I write?’ ”

The other tattoo, on her shoulder, is a bit more risqué. “That was to celebrate the Haus’s collaboration with legendary Japanese photographer Araki. I was bound by Araki’s personal bondage artist, by several ropes and Japanese knots … Araki photographed me, using a series of several cameras. He did not photograph my image; he photographed my soul. We spent the night with Araki and his friends at a members’ only bar he’s owned for more than 20 years, where he displays his work. Here, he painted me and took Polaroids through the night. I was honored to be the first American woman he’s photographed, and only the second pop artist, in the company of Björk. He signed the Polaroids ‘Tokyo Love,’ and the Haus got tattoos of his marking in celebration.”

Both tattoos were done during Gaga’s trip to Osaka and Tokyo, where she was photographed in an S&M-inspired photo shoot with Araki.

Source : MTV News

DENVER, CO – The Mile High City puts on an impressive display of pink in honor of the Race for the Cure. Some companies are displaying pink flags or ribbons and the City and County building has pink lights on it.
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But, one business is making a much more permanent tribute possible for a lot of people.

5280 Ink, a tattoo shop in Federal Heights, is giving free pink ribbon tattoos every Saturday. They are booked solid with people wanting to display their commitment to breast cancer awareness permanently.

“It’s truly an honor to be able to offer these women, these survivors that I’ve met, a tattoo in recognition of their strength and what they’ve gone through,” Kathleen King, owner of 5280 Ink, said.

The free pink ribbon tattoo offer was scheduled to go throughout the month of October.

However, they have already 600 tattoos scheduled and the owner says they just can’t take anymore this year, but they’ll do it again next year.

Source : 9 News

TERRE HAUTE, IA – Vigo County is currently looking to rewrite the entire ordinance that covers tattoos, body piercings and other procedures.

One particular procedure happening at a few area tattoo parlors has health officials upset.

Devin Feller likes to express himself with tattoos and piercing. He also has something that many people have never seen before: His tongue is split in two.

“Once it cuts in it just feels cold because you don’t have that much feeling on the inside of your tongue,” Feller said. “Afterwords, I didn’t have that much problem with it. You can take ibuprofen to reduce swelling and everything like that. I didn’t have problems with swelling all that much.”

Currently, tongue splitting is legal at Vigo County tattoo and piercing shops, but that could soon change.

“We view that as a surgical procedure. We don’t really feel that it is safe to be done in a tattoo shop,” Megan Bland with the Vigo County Health Department said. “It’s just one of those things that we don’t feel comfortable allowing those to do it when they are not licensed medical doctors.”

“I can’t exactly write this off to my health insurance and have them pay for this. Its not really a medical procedure.”

Source : WTHITV

CATHEDRAL CITY, CA – Cathedral City officials will revisit the topic of restricting tattoo parlors and body-piercing establishments in the city, perhaps as soon as this month.
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The planning commission voted 4-0 on Sept. 24 to recommend to the City Council a ban on new parlors along East Palm Canyon Drive or 300 feet from it. Commissioner John Holt was absent.

If approved, Cathedral City would follow its neighbors, Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, in limiting tattoo parlors and body-piercing shops.

These businesses are prohibited in the Palm Springs central business zone, which includes parts of East Palm Canyon Drive, according to its municipal code. Rancho Mirage’s municipal code does not allow the parlors anywhere in the city, city spokeswoman Beth Williams said.

Cathedral City Senior Planner Rich Malacoff told planning commissioners last week: “East Palm Canyon Drive is an economic generator, and it’s important for the city to be selective in the types of businesses that we allow, in order to protect the integrity of East Palm Canyon Drive.”

The ban would go into effect by amending the municipal code, once it’s approved. The council could consider it as early as its next meeting on Oct. 14.

The commission’s recommendation follows another move by the city this month to amend the municipal code in relation to tattoo parlors. The City Council approved on Sept. 9 a ban on branding and scarification practices at tattoo parlors and other establishments anywhere in the city.

An existing parlor, Cactus Tattoo at 68-477 E. Palm Canyon Drive, would not be affected by the ban, Malacoff said.

Cactus Tattoo owner Ruben Guzman said he was unaware of a potential change to the municipal code and that he was not worried after learning about it.

Guzman almost didn’t get to open his parlor earlier this year when the City Council decided to review the planning commission’s approval of his operating permit. However, the council failed to get a majority vote to overturn approval of the permit.

Councilman Greg Pettis said on Sept. 25 that the subject of tattoo parlors on East Palm Canyon Drive came up at a council study session after two parlors applied for permits. Pettis was concerned tattoo parlors in that area were not consistent with the city’s efforts to revamp its downtown district, he said.

“The city is spending millions of dollars in a new City Hall, and we got a new hotel coming in and are widening a bridge with all this money in an area where we are trying to stimulate higher-end business,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t want these businesses in the city; it’s just a question of where we put them.”

Source : My Desert