Attorneys Dispute Police Gang-War Theory No Solid Evidence Linking Suspects To Gangs, Public Defenders Contend

Defense attorneys Thursday challenged the Spokane Police Department’s theory that a recent drive-by shooting on West First Avenue was part of a gang war.

Police have offered no solid evidence the two men accused in the attack - Robert Esparza and Travis Lanphier - belong to gangs, public defenders Jim Sheehan and Molly Campbell said.

Detectives believe Lanphier, 25, drove a car past the corner of First and Madison on July 28 while Esparza, 31, fired a .45-caliber pistol out the passenger window.

Five people were shot in the attack, captured on videotape by a surveillance camera mounted on a nearby building. At least two of the victims are affiliated with gangs, police said.

Several witnesses identified Esparza and Lanphier as the men in the car, police said.

Detectives contend the suspects carried out the attack in an effort to scare off rival gang members and take over the corner’s lucrative drug trade.

Police Chief Terry Mangan stood by his department’s conclusions.

“We have good reason to believe that there is an emerging gang war down there and that this was a part of it,” Mangan said Thursday.

The chief refused to further explain why his detectives reached that conclusion, saying it will all eventually come out in court.

During the arraignments for both men Thursday, Sheehan said the gang allegations “besmirched” their reputations.

Superior Court Judge James Murphy reduced bail from $250,000 to $50,000 for each defendant after Sheehan and Campbell argued their clients have no known ties to gangs, no criminal records and longtime links to the community.

Both Esparza and Lanphier, a lifelong resident of Spokane, have jobs and families in the area, the defense attorneys said.

Kimberlee Jenkins, Esparza’s common-law wife, said she and the couple’s two children have suffered because Esparza, a sprinkler installer, has been labeled a gangster.

“This is so outrageous,” Jenkins said. “They’re both hard-working men taking care of their families. It’s hurting us. He’s guilty before he even gets a chance.”

Jenkins said Esparza, who consumed a large quantity of tequila and beer the day of the shootings, told her he doesn’t remember anything about that night until he and Lanphier were pulled over by police.

“He told me, ‘I didn’t shoot no one, Kim,”’ she said.

Lanphier told a sheriff’s deputy that he was at West First on July 28 but didn’t shoot anyone, according to court records.

Detectives say Lanphier told them, “I wish I had the last five hours to do over. I would have gone to bed.”

Police Sgt. Michael Yates, a department gang expert, outlined in a court document filed Thursday that he’s convinced the shootings were gang-related.

While Yates conceded police “have nothing in their records to indicate that either of the suspects are gang-affiliated …,” he said “there are some attendant circumstances that indicate there may be some gang-relatedness to the incident …”

Yates said a woman told police a man matching Esparza’s description was seen writing gang graffiti on a wall near West First several hours before the shooting.

The woman said the man told her the neighborhood belonged to his gang, not another gang known to frequent the area.

Yates also cited Esparza’s teardrop tattoo under his left eye. Such tattoos are often given to gang members who have spent time in prison or done something special for their gang, Yates wrote.

Drive-by shootings similar to the one on West First are “characteristic of how gangs carry out retaliation for transgressions,” the detective said.

Vowing to stamp out the West First violence, Mangan announced plans earlier this week to spend $130,000 in overtime pay between now and October to provide added patrols.

Mayor Jack Geraghty said Thursday he still supports the plan, even if the latest violence isn’t gang-related.

“Somebody was still shooting somebody else from a car, and that’s still a problem,” Geraghty said.

, DataTimes