Gangsta's Child Abuse Key to His Suicide

Note: I wrote the report-and-opinion, below, for an attorney who hired me to help her represent a school district being sued by the parents of a middle-school student (15 years old) who committed suicide shortly after ditching school to lead a media-publicized public protest and demonstration on the day the U.S. Congress was considering measures that the student claimed--echoing community activists--were intended to deport undocumented Hispanics illegally living and working in California. We won the case. The school district did not have to pay the parents one dime. My report illustrates the lengths to which the parents went, in their crass attempt to rip off the school district, with bogus claims that twisted a social issue into a vehicle for selfish, personal gain while masking conditions at home that had tormented their deceased son.

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James E. Shaw, Ph.D.
Superior Court-certified Expert Witness: Member of the Panel of Experts, Los Angeles Superior Court, Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Expertise: Gangs; Juvenile Homicide & Violence; School Safety; Author of the nationally-acclaimed book, Jack and Jill, Why They Kill; Creator of the Homicidally-at-Risk Adolescent Profile (H.A.R.A.P.®); Writer of the B.R.A.V.E. (“Be Resilient Avoid Violence Everywhere”) Curriculum; Editor of The Los Angeles County Master Plan for School Safety; advisor on California Department of Education/Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Classroom Management Guide; Editor and Advisor on the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department/Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors/Los Angeles County Office of Education’s “Helping Improve Police Practices” (H.I.P.P.) manual for law enforcement working with students and gangs; and author of the forthcoming book, GANGrene: Youth Terrorism USA


May 14, 2007


XXXXXX, Esq.
XXXXXX & Associates
XXXXXX First Floor
XXXXXX, CA 92614

Re: XXXXXXs v. XXXXXX, Case No. XXXXXX.

My Reading of and Findings About the Supplemental Materials Recvd on May 10, 2007


XXXXXX and School
The school in which, according to Mr. XXXXXX, XXXXXX had good attendance and good grades, joined with law enforcement and the juvenile court in punishing him for bringing a knife on campus; further, Mr. XXXXXX cautioned him about the minimum-to-maximum punishments he could face by deliberately committing truancy. XXXXXX perhaps felt that, unlike XXXXXX’s view of his truancy being simply ditching school, he was marching to the beat of a national drum—immigration rights.

Stepfather’s Gun Used in Suicide Act
After acquiring the gun under very questionable circumstances, XXXXXX’s stepfather didn’t really get rid of the gun like XXXXXX’s mother insisted he do. Instead, he hid it in the garage. (A) It is important to note that some parents who themselves are gangbangers, or live around gangs, provide their male children with direct and indirect access to guns. My view is that there is a definite reason why XXXXXX’s father refused to get rid of the gun after acquiring it suspiciously (he tells Officer XXXXXX XXXXXX it was used in a “hit,” he recovered it and his friend gave him the bullets) instead of buying a gun legally and registering it. XXXXXX’s stepfather’s behavior is identical to that of a criminal gangbanger. Who, in their right mind (except a gangbanger) would obtain a gun which he knows may have “been used in a hit” (Officer XXXXXX). XXXXXX’s stepfather might well be a felon who has served time in prison and has a criminal record. (B) At the XXXXXX Juvenile Hall where I work, some parents have been arrested on Sundays, during the 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. visitation period, after attempting to spirit handguns past the sheriff deputies and metal detectors. (C) Parents who have served time in prison often make guns available to their male children. (D) Speaking of providing a gun to their child, who provided Anthony with the knife he took to school—his stepfather?

XXXXXX Projected Onto Himself His Gangster Heroes’ Life Philosophies
XXXXXX knew that both Hip Hop icons Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls died from injuries they received after being shot with guns. Viewing himself as a lover like Biggie Smalls and a [gang] “soldier” like Tupac Shakur, he wanted Smalls’ and Shakur’s music played at his funeral with the exact songs they wrote to extol, narcissistically, these virtues and views they held of themselves.

XXXXXX Saw Criminal Gangbanger’s Problems as His Own
XXXXXX latched onto himself the “problems” the late criminal Tupac Shakur extolled in his “Thugz Mansion” rap song, the song XXXXXX, in his suicide note, ordered be played at his funeral. True, it could be logically argued that none of what Tupac Shakur talks about in his bleak, depressing, barren rap applies to XXXXXX’s life at all. XXXXXX merely appropriated Tupac Shakur’s story as his own. Shakur’s blaming everybody else for “me being me” (my emphasis) is precisely the manner in which XXXXXX appropriated Mr. XXXXXX into his own personal misery and pain. Mr. XXXXXX had about as much to do with XXXXXX’s subsequent mental and emotional states, after he criticized XXXXXX’s school-ditching behavior, as a highway patrol officer has to do with a speeding motorist’s mental and emotional states following pursuit of him for reckless driving and giving him a citation.

XXXXXX’s Distorted View of Life Blinded Him to Confiding in Those Close to Him
As did Tupac Shakur, XXXXXX seemed to think he was all alone in this world. That is the danger of Hip Hop music: It invades the psyche and infects the very soul of unstable, unsure, emotionally-fragile youth who then, in a badly-blurred and entirely out of focus world-view, see their own life as a mirror-image of the rap artist’s life. This is distortion of the worst sort, accompanied by the paranoia, blame, anger, spitefulness and, particularly, uneven behavior: Dating Joycelyn for two weeks but not introducing her to his mom, yet narcissistically calling her the “best one I ever had”, as though his Hip Hip idol Biggie Smalls was listening; being close enough to his natural father to play basketball with him but not confiding in his father about his stepfather’s abuse of him (Offcr XXXXXX’ report), or his plan to boycott school over the immigration rights issue; talking with his mother only once about the immigration issue; struggling to get a paltry few middle school students to join his walkout and, after being warned by XXXXXX High School students about getting cited, failing to muster support from any OHS students.

XXXXXX, Idolizing a Real-Life Gangster, Deliberately Broke Truancy Law
XXXXXX’s hero, Tupac Shakur, was a criminal, a thug who proudly declared himself so with his huge tattoo, “Thug Life” on his chest and stomach. I did not see evidence of XXXXXX having any tattoo (it might be worth verifying whether he did or not). Shakur was a criminal; criminals break laws. XXXXXX was determined to break the law despite (a) knowing he was on probation for a weapons violation at school; and (b) hearing, first-hand, warnings from OHS students that they were cited for walking out of school. Unlike Shakur, however, who absolutely did not care what society thought of him, XXXXXX did care. And he felt the bitter sting of failure when the students he hoped to muster in support of his walkout slipped from his grasp like a handful of sand through his fingers. A middle school student’s dream of having high school students follow as he leads them can be intoxicating—a true power rush. Hip Hop icon Shakur had a nation of young criminal street gangs to “back” him up, with his hostile, anti-social, cancerous, toxic views. XXXXXX still relied on (1) “good” students to validate his view of himself and provide him approval cues and social status; and (2) the XXXXXX Middle School to approve of him, in loco parentis. However, he was totally unprepared for coming face-to-face with failure. Power-mad as he was, the emotional impact of playing thug by ditching school and using immigration rights as his national issue—as had Tupac Shakur, in his Thugz Mansion rap, used police as his national issue—was simply too much for him. Being denied the end-of-year dance must have been a hard slap in the face. XXXXXX perhaps felt he had to “dance” to other people’s music and was simply tired of all that. His idol, Tupac Shakur, at least, danced to his own.

XXXXXX Decided to Hurt the School for the Penalty Imposed on Him
XXXXXX desperately needed the school’s validation and support. His phone comment to his mother about “getting in trouble at school” (Offcr XXXXXX’s report) must be seriously considered in this regard. He felt he did not have the school’s validation and support, and the realization pained him beyond his ability to tolerate. Vice principal XXXXXX’s decision was permanent. There was no way he would change the cancellation of the Disneyland trip or the order that XXXXXX not go to the school dance. XXXXXX decided, therefore, to make a final decision for the school (falsely blaming Mr. XXXXXX for his school problems), one they would also never be able to change: His own death.

XXXXXX’s Suicide Note Shows He Fell Off His Own Emotional Cliff
Just like his elliptical (incomplete, insufficient), one-time reference to his mother and others about immigration rights, XXXXXX made a passing, confusing reference to “Mr. Bent” (sic) in his suicide note. He failed to explain why “Mr. Bent is a motherfucker.” In his rambling, disconnected note, he didn’t include Mr. XXXXXX in any key topic sentence or explanatory paragraph. If Mr. XXXXXX was the source of his mental and emotional distress, he would have opened his suicide note by directly and clearly stating precisely why, how, and when Mr. XXXXXX caused him pain and suffering. More important, he did not verbally blame Mr. XXXXXX for anything at all. Rather, he stated that he had to kill himself because “I’ve got too many problems.” He did not say whether he had problems with any person or persons, or what, exactly, his problems were. He didn’t even mention whether others had problems, simply that “a (sic) have to many problems.” It must be seen that the passion he exudes for his family, friends, and girlfriend, in his unique, elliptical and immature style, did not transfer over to discussing his “to many problems”, whether they included Mr. XXXXXX or not. Therefore, his silence in this regard must be seen for what it is: A refutation and rebuttal of other [plaintiff] expert witness’s “last known contact” (my emphasis) theory: Mr. XXXXXX was one of XXXXXX’s last known contacts; therefore, he pushed XXXXXX over the edge. That view illogically assumes facts not in evidence. XXXXXX fell off his own emotional cliff. He was not pushed by Mr XXXXXX.

XXXXXX’s Abusive Stepfather, Not XXXXXX, Caused His Emotional Distress
Friends of XXXXXX and his family rushed wildly and erroneously to blame Mr. XXXXXX for causing XXXXXX’s mood swing that stopped its pendulum at the exact moment he decided to kill himself. However, case documentation shows that:

➢ (a) XXXXXX offered no defense for himself when Mr. XXXXXX criticized him and friends for ditching school. At least, in the knife incident he and family said the knife was simply, innocuously in his backpack, without telling the “other” story: he brought it to school and pulled it out to threaten another student in a fight;
➢ (b) he brought no other support (family or friend) to defend what he mistakenly thought was his “constitutional right” to walk out of school to protest a national issue.
➢ (c) XXXXXX had told another boy that his (XXXXXX’s) stepfather was physically abusing him and his three-year old sister. The mother of the boy to whom XXXXXX told this called a school employee, XXXXXX XXXXXX, and reported this. Ms. XXXXXX subsequently told Officer XXXXXX XXXXXX.
➢ (d) XXXXXX also told the boy (according to the reporting mother) “he rather be dead, than to be living at home.” (See Officer XXXXXX XXXXXX’ report.)
➢
➢ Personal Anger and Disappointment Turn to Vengeance
➢ XXXXXX was extremely angry at himself and bitterly disappointed with his “performance”: He simply failed to organize and lead others to his way of thinking. Whether protesting the perceived “anti-immigration” legislation was his real reason for ditching school that day or not, the actual reason for his role in his own death was he could not go home and accept further parental abuse and accept the failure of being totally unable to convince enough students to boycott school. Therefore, others would have to pay for his shame, pain and suffering: Mr XXXXXX, his family, and, especially, his friends who weren’t “there” for him.
➢
➢ How Stepfather’s Alleged Abuse Might Have Affected XXXXXX
➢ Being physically abused by his stepfather would:

➢ (a) force XXXXXX into silence. Snitching is taboo, especially when it reports a blood parent or step parent; hence, no mention of his stepfather in his suicide note, just a vulgarism for “Mr. Bent” (sic);
➢ (b) XXXXXX’s silence (my previous comments) is consistent with his talking with his mother on the phone after the ditching incident and the trouble it might cause him at school but, according to Officer XXXXXX A. XXXXXX of the XXXXXX Police Department, XXXXXX “did not give any indication that he was going to harm himself in any way.” And why would he? If he never told his mother what her new husband, his stepfather, was doing to him, why should he tell her about the morbid thoughts he had about taking his own life? [Victims of abuse frequently respond this way; stoic, and, working in silence, they harm themselves, not those harming them.]
➢ (c) cause him to feel his mother had betrayed him as a result of his not being able to confide in her about what her beloved second husband was doing to him (perhaps she knew and did not intervene for her own reasons);
➢ (d) cause him to desire to rise above himself and his circumstances at home; thus, the immigrants rights issue was the “ticket” he sought for pursuing this goal; and
➢ (e) reinforce to him, in overwhelming terms, that no matter what his big, lofty goals were about a student walkout, he was not big enough (or loved enough by others) to keep from being physically abused by his stepfather. XXXXXX’s failure to convince enough others to join his walkout, was proof to him that he was nothing more than a kid physically abused by his stepfather. Nothing more.
➢
XXXXXX, a Social Failure
➢ My first point of view: XXXXXX failed in getting more than 20 students to walk out with him to protest perceived anti-immigration laws. Looking at his paltry few confederates filled him with such anger and embarrassment, that he and some of his male friends retreated to a liquor store. He had to face the bitter truth when, upon leaving the liquor store, he saw that no additional middle school students, and absolutely no high school students, had joined him.
➢
➢ My second point of view: If XXXXXX was a gangbanger (ignore his family’s denial about this—family members regularly and consistently lie to authorities about their children’s gang acts and activities), then his failure to get more students to join his walkout was because rival gangs do not mill in the streets and “unite” for one cause. They just don’t stop fighting each other and instantly join hands together in a [political issue] walkout to show “unity.” With XXXXXX, the failure must have cut deep inside him, and the bile must have stung like bitter poison when he realized: No gangbanger is going to join a middle school student’s school walkout and risk getting shot and killed in a drive-by blaze of gunfire by rival gangs resenting some of their own members publicly walking (or, as they say, “kickin’ it”) with the enemy.
➢
➢ XXXXXX’s Final Act: Vengeance and Criticism
➢ XXXXXX’s act of suicide virtually guaranteed that, at his funeral, those very students he wanted to accompany him would now [be forced to] march past him in respect at his funeral. Though flawed with spelling errors, a line from his suicide note says it all, from his heart: “tell everone (sic) in my school there (sic) invide (sic) to my funel (sic).”
➢
➢ Sadly, for XXXXXX, despite, or rather because of, his stepfather’s alleged abuse of him, combined with his massive embarrassment and shame at failing to attract a large following of students to join him in walking out of school, his act of suicide was the highest form of self-criticism.


Respectfully submitted,

My Resume

James E. Shaw, Ph.D.
Superior Court-Certified Expert: Litigation Support and Trial Testimony
Gangs; School Safety; Youth Violence; Child Sexual Abuse Reporting Protocols
(310) 678-6950 (cell.); (310) 649-5118 (fax). Email: courtwitness@mac.com. Website: http://expertincourt.blogspot.com. Commentator for NBC, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC, and author of the nationally-acclaimed book, Jack and Jill, Why They Kill (peer-reviewed by RAND Corporation), and the forthcoming book, GANGrene: Youth Terrorism USA


COURT APPOINTMENT: California Superior Court-Certified Expert Witness.

Dr. Shaw is a member on the Panel of Experts of the Los Angeles Superior Court, Criminal Division, Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

Dr. Shaw holds the State of California License No. 030129796: Pupil Counseling, Grades K through 12.

Under Williams v. State of California, Dr. Shaw, as one of the California State Legislature-appointed Professional Team Leaders, went into public schools to ensure school administrator-compliance with the stipulations and terms (re school safety, teacher certification, and sufficient textbooks/curricular materials) of the massive and historic class action litigation affecting the CA’s 58 counties.

Dr. Shaw served as Director of Child Welfare for the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, and as Prosecutor in the Norwalk Superior Court’s Truancy Court.

Dr. Shaw served on the Multi-Agency Task Consortium Against Gangs.

Dr. Shaw served as a member of the Child Death Review Committee of the Los Angeles County Interagency Council Against Abuse and Neglect (I.C.A.N.).

For many years Dr. Shaw, through the Los Angeles County Office of Education, was a Consultant-Trainer on “Child Abuse Mandated Reporting Requirements”, and trained the county’s 81 school districts on reporting materials provided by the Attorney General.

Dr. Shaw, as an invited keynote speaker, addressed the audience and media at the Columbine High School memorial ceremony in honor of the slain victims.

Dr. Shaw was the keynote speaker at the annual St. Mary’s Medical Center’s Child Abuse Conference, held in Walla Walla, Washington.

During his four-year in-person/in-prison research on children who killed, Dr. Shaw coined the term “adolescentcide” (the phenomenon of children killing children) used by the media following the Columbine High School tragedy.

Dr. Shaw is a member of the California State Sheriff’s Education Association.

Dr. Shaw, for a number of years, taught the law course, Administration of Justice: Juvenile Delinquency and Legal Procedures, at the El Camino Police Academy.

Dr. Shaw is the author of the copyrighted “Homicidally-at-Risk Adolescent Profile,” or H.A.R.A.P., instrument used, in People v. Marcus Adams, by the Law Office of the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender.

Dr. Shaw is a member of the American Society of Trial Consultants.

Dr. Shaw is a member of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice.

Dr. Shaw is a member of the National Lawyers Guild.

Dr. Shaw is associate member, #00711062, of the American Bar Association and, as a Certified Mandatory Legal Education (CMLE) Trainer, conducts accredited seminars for lawyers.


SOME CASES FOR WHICH DR. SHAW WAS THE DESIGNATED EXPERT:

• Jane C.R. Doe v. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Orange, et al. (Sexual Assault and Battery; Negligent Hiring/Retention; Negligent Supervision/Failure to Warn) [For Manly, McGuire & Stewart Law.

• Murray & Cox v. Egremont Schools. (Sexual Assault and Battery; Negligent Hiring/Retention; Negligent Supervision/Failure to Warn) [For Kessel & Associates Law Group.]

• People v. Jimmy Hunter. (Double Murder) [County of Ventura Office of the Public Defender; Joe Villasana, Esq.]

• People v. Charlotte Woods. (Gang Allegation) [For Romina Aghai, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender.]

• Catherine Porter-Luttrell v. Ojai Unified School District. (Teacher’s use, in her 5th-grade class, of obscene, lewd and lascivious adult-level book; Negligent Supervision) [For Jones & Briggs Law.]

• Yvonne and Gregory Smith (for Isiah Smith) v. San Juan Unified School District. (Child Abuse; Negligent Supervision; Failure to Report as Mandated) [For Kahn, Brown & Poore Law.]

• People v. William Joseph (Gang-related Shooting/Attempted Murder) [For County of Los Angeles Office of the Public Defender; Kendi Ravsten, Esq.]

• People v. Roderick Milner (Murder/Gang Allegation) [For Attorney Stanley Z. White, Bar Panel.]

• People v. Yovany Pensado (Robbery & Assault With Deadly Weapon/Gang Allegation) [For Attorney Fred Ricco McCurry, Bar Panel.]

• People v. Nicholas Real. (Gang Enhancement Allegation) [For Sef Krell, Esq., and Alex Kessel, Esq.] Bar Panel case.

• People v. Jerron Harris. (Felon Carrying Weapon/Gang Allegation) [For Lucia Gonzalez, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender.]

• People v. Gilberto Martinez (Attempted Murder/Spec Alleg Gang Enhancemt) [For County of Sacramento Office of the Pub Def; David Lynch, Esq.]

• People v. Johnnie Davis. (Home Invasion/Gang Terrorism) [For Kern County, Bakersfield Public Defender; Mark Raimondo, Esq.]

• People v. Antonio Webster. (Attempted Murder/Gang Enhancement) [For County of Los Angeles, Office of the Public Defender; Pamela L. Jones, Esq.]

• People v. Rodrigo Bernal. (Gang Injunction Violation) [For Elizabeth Hodgen, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender.]

• People v. Munoz. (Weapons Violation/Gang Allegation) [For Jorge Guzman, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender.]

• People. V. Gray, Williams & Reese (Gang & Street Terrorism Allegation) [For Ryan Jay, Esq., County of Sacramento Public Defender.]

• People v. Robert Gaylord (Gang Injunction Violation) [For Yajahira Martinez, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender.]

• People v. Christian Rodriguez (Murder/Gang Enhancement) [For Denise Bousley, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender.]

• People v. Stefan Taylor (Gang Injunction Violation) [For Elizabeth Hodgen, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender.]

• People v. Kenneth Harris (Gang Injunction Violation) [For Elizabeth Hodgen, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles county Public Defender.]

• People v. Rodney Morris (Gang Injunction Violation) [For Elizabeth Hodgen, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender.]

• The People of the State of California v. Marcus Adams (Uzi Assault Triple Murder/Gang Enhancement) [For Attorney Patrick Thomason, Law Offices of the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender.]

• People v. Quincy Edward Giles. (Attempted Double Murder/Gang Allegation) [For Attorney Frederick Lacey, Law Offices of the Alternate Public Defender.]

• People v. Luis Pineda. (Armed robbery/Gang Enhancement) [For Attorney Val Rada, Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender.]

• People v. Cesario Vasquez. (Murder/Gang Allegation) [For Attorney Seymour I. Amster. Bar Panel]

• People v. Durrell Davon Melchor. (ADW W/Firearm on Peace Officer) [For Attorney Frank Di Sabatino, Bar Panel.]

• People v. Phillip Masters. (Assault with deadly weapon/GBI/Gang Enhancement) [For Attorney Dane Cameron, Bar Panel.]

• People v. Gabriel Arceo. (Triple Murder/Gang Allegation) [For Attorney Charles Patton, Bar Panel.]

• People v. Jamal Payne, Jerry Sorrels, Damon Garrett, & Roderick Jenkins. (Murder/Gang Allegation) [For John Blanchard, Esq., Bar Panel.]

• People v. Jason Pezant. (Possession of Firearm by Felon/Gang Enhancement) [For Attorney Mark Williams, Bar Panel]

• People v. Richard Tovalin. (Attempted Murder/Gang Allegation) [For Attorney Seymour Amster, Bar Panel]

• People v. Delatorre. (Gang Injunction Violation) [For Ana Elmi, Esq., Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender]

• People v. Gonzalez (Murder/Gang Allegation) [For Attorney Seymour Amster, Bar Panel]

• People v. Francisco Orozco. (Attempted Murder/Gang Allegation) [For Attorney Art Goldberg, Bar Panel.]

• Del Cid v. Los Angeles Unified School District. (Assault and Personal Injury/Gang-Related) [For Attorney Brian Vogel.]

• Anise Arteaga v. Los Angeles Unified School District. (Assault and Personal Injury). [For Attorney Joseph Avrahamy.]

• “Marie S.” v. Alameda Unified School District, et al. (Administrator Assault on Student and Personal Injury) [For Attorney Trudy L. Martin.]

• Corales v. Bennett. (Middle School Student Suicide) [For Attorney Jacqueline De Warr.]

• People v. Charkhian. (Terrorist threat-to-kill/“Third Strike” Predicate Act for Gang Enhancement; [For Attorney Allison Margolin.]

• Royce Volkmann v. Capistrano Unified School District (Assault and GBI) [For Attorney Mitchell Stein.]

• United States Immigration Court v. Carlos Ayala. (Gang activity and street terrorism: Injunction to deport) [For Attorney Dana Mendelson.]

• Lester v. Department of Health and Human Resources(State of V. Virginia) (Assault and personal injury) [For Attorney Keith Gamble.]

• Tapia v. City of San Rafael. (Assault and traumatic personal injury at high school) [For Attorney Liza de Vries.]

• Gibson v. Los Angeles Unified School District. (Child Molestation) [For Carlson, Messer & Turner Law Group; Jeanne Zimmer, Esq.]

• State of Nevada v. Paul Anthony Rice. (Gang homicide) [For Attorney Kyle Swanson.]

• Robert and Diane Roy for Travis Roy v. Murrietta Valley School District. (Wrongful death) [For Attorney Daral Mazzarrella.]

• Sismilich v. Academy of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Girls School. (Teacher’s unlawful sex with minor) [For Gordon & Rees Law Group; Linda Mullany, Esq.]

• Williams v. California Department of Education. (Civil Rights/Equality in Education) Professional Expert/Team Leader for: State of California, California Department of Education, and Los Angeles County Office of Education.

• Cindy Perez v. Los Angeles Unified School District. (Sexual Assault and Battery) [For Attorney Thomas Edward Wall.]

• Molina v. Los Angeles Unified School District. (Sexual Assault on campus) [For Carpenter and Zuckerman Law Group; Michael Stone-Molloy, Esq.]

• People of the State of California v.Robert Masiel III. (Murder/Gang Enhancement) [For Attorney Karen Lockhart.]

• People of the State of California v. David Mariscal (Gang-related Murder) [For Attorney Craig Wormley.]

• United States v. Arceneaux (Gang-Heist Bank Robbery) [Federal Court case; for Attorney T.E. Warriner.]

• In re United States Military Academy, West Point. (“The Le Ray Eleven” case: Assault and GBI/Gang Enhancement/FirearmsViolations) [For Captain Jessica Conn, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate.]

• In re United States Navy. (Court Martial: Gang-related Weapons incident) [For Judge Advocate General Ryan Torgrison.]

• In re Alfredo M. (Street Terrorism/Gang Enhancement) [For Attorney Tracy Tully-Davis.]

• Jackson v. Conga Room (Gang-related Homicide) [For Attorney Gary Jacobs.]

• Campolini v. Ventura Unified School District (Assault and Personal Injury) [For Attorney James Prosser.]

• In re Assault and Personal Injury v. Hayward Unified School District (Gang-related Assault and Personal Injury) [For Attorney Robert Abel.]

• In re Bonfire Injuries v. Fault & Yeates; TX A & M, Et Al (Non-assault/Personal Injury) [For Attorney Marty Rogers.]

• Carpenter (for Pierce) v. Tumwater School District, et al. (Assault and Rape) [For then-Attorney General of Washington: Christine Gregoire, Tort Claims Div.]

• Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Bronx, Henderson v. Smith, et al (Student assault/Personal Injury) [For Attorney James Marino.]

• Rubideaux v. Los Angeles Unified School District (Student Non-Assault Personal Injury) [For Carlson, Messer, & Turner Law Group; Edgar De Vera, Esq.]

• Bryant v. Willard (Juvenile Homicide/Gang & Drug Event) [For Attorney James Lozinski.]

• Martinez v. Los Angeles Unified School District (Student Assault/Gang-related) [For Attorney Andrew Ellis.]

• Plumlee v. Fullerton Joint Union High School District (Student Assault/Personal Injury [For Attorney James Rainboldt.]


OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Nationwide Book and Media Tour, Jodi Solomon Speakers Bureau, Boston, MA. As a result of the research for and publication of my book, Jack and Jill, Why They Kill, I appeared repeatedly as guest educator and school safety/youth crime/child abuse expert on NBC’s “The Today Show,” CBS’s “Eye Witness News,” “CBS Utah,” CNN’s “Talk Back With Bobbi Battista,” MSNBC’s “Live With Mitch Albom,” ABC’s “Good Morning America,” FOX News, “The O’Reilly Factor,” and other television and radio media outlets. Delivered keynote addresses at national conferences comprising judges, attorneys, law enforcement personnel, educators, psychologists, sociologists, the clergy, and politicians. At the request of states’ elected representatives, I consulted on and assisted in the design of violence education-and-prevention and school safety programs. B.R.A.V.E. (“Be Resilient Avoid Violence Everywhere”), my violence education-and-prevention curriculum, was written during this time at the suggestion of a Wasatch County, Utah high school principal. B.R.A.V.E. has been reviewed and cited by the FBI/ATF Philadelphia Regional Office. At the invitation of Littleton, Colorado parents, I delivered one of the keynote addresses at the first annual commemoration ceremony, in Littleton, Colorado, in honor of the slain victims of the Columbine High School massacre. (A copy of my speech is available upon request.) July 2000 to October 2005.

Teacher, Los Padrinos Juvenile Court School, operated by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Taught high school-level subjects, per State Department of Education curriculum frameworks. Counseled gang members and other incarcerated juveniles on court etiquette, legal language, probation behavioral standards, administration of justice and juvenile delinquency; goals/visions/values; and legal, personal and social responsibility. Served as Los Angeles County’s “Dollars for Scholars” board member and fundraiser for scholarship awards to juvenile wards desiring to improve their lives. Served as the Los Angeles County Office of Education and Los Angeles County Probation Department liaison for the LEAPS (Life Excellerator Assessment of Personal Skills) Facilities-Wide Behavior Management Program. Served as vice chairperson of the Los Padrinos Shared Decision Making Council. Served as academic coach in the annual “Academic Bowl” fete. October 2005 to present.

While studying for CLAD (Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development) certification, and in a nod toward linguist Jim Cummins’ “cognitive academic language proficiency” theory of academic success, I coined the phrase, “symptomatically-compromised academic language deficiency” (SCALD), and wrote a paper describing this linguistic phenomenon and cause of school failure among LEP (Limited English Proficient) street gang members. Symptomatically-compromised language deficiency results from everything that is dysfunctional, unhealthy, and at-risk in their lives: e.g., family members incarcerated, witnessing or engaging in violent gang acts, illegal drug use.

Gang Consultant and Media Expert for the made-for-television documentary, “Homegirls,” produced by Luis Colina and Father Gregory Boyle (The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and founder of “Homeboy Ministries.” Ongoing/in-progress.

Instructor, Master’s Degree Program, the University of Phoenix. Courses: Child and Adolescent Development and Teacher-training courses. July 2003 to present.

Instructor, Police Sciences Curriculum, El Camino Police Academy (operated by El Camino Community College), Torrance, CA. Course: Administration of Justice: Juvenile Delinquency and Legal Procedures. February 2002 to present.

Director, Pupil Personnel Services, Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District
(24,000 students – 31 schools.) and Director, Student Attendance Review Board (S.A.R.B.) No. 21, at the Norwalk Superior Court. Prosecuted, for the L.A. County District Attorney, parents and children in violation of school attendance laws. Designed and co-conducted, with Sheriff Dept., “Stop-Crimes-on-Campus” programs: Drug-Dog Sniffing Program; Juvenile Citation-into-Court Program (for gang activity, graffiti-tagging, vandalism, fighting, alcohol possession, profanity, drug possession and use); and specialized gang diversion programs such as G.R.I.P., “Gang Reduction Intervention Program” and the “Gang Awareness Project” (G.A.P.), both of which were coordinated with local law enforcement. July 1999 – July 2000.

Consultant, Public School Law, L.A. County Office of Education. Advisor to 81 school districts on L. A. County, state laws pertaining to child welfare and school attendance, student violence, suspensions and expulsions, gang activity/violence and parents’ roles and responsibilities. At request of retired Supervisor Deane Dana, I helped to write the L.A. County” Anti-Truancy Ordinance, No 96-0009.” September 1996 – June 1999.

Consultant, GAIN (Greater Avenues for Independence) Welfare-to-Work Program, L.A. County Office of Education. Supervised four Job Developers and 80 Job Search Specialists in the development of employer requirements, employment preparation, job market surveying, personal skills inventorying, job readiness, and personal responsibility courses; case follow-up and evaluation. September 1995 – September 1996.
Producer, Educational Television. Los Angeles County Office of Education. Produced focused programs: gang awareness and education; interviews with the State of CA Superintendent of Schools; curriculum series involving Institutes of Higher Education (IHE’s): USC, Claremont Graduate University, and UCLA; and a widely-acclaimed special program I conceived, produced and hosted following the 1992 Los Angeles riot: “Let’s Not Experience it Again.” January 1991 to September 1995.


EDUCATION

Dr. James E. Shaw earned his Ph.D. degree (focus: Curriculum) from the Claremont Graduate University and received the Phi Delta Kappa (Mt. Baldy Chapter) "Best Dissertation of the Year" award for his pioneering study of a spectrum of children—including gang members—incarcerated in state prisons for murder and homicide. His 4-year in-person/in-prison research of 103 girls and boys was the subject of his doctoral dissertation. (1993 – 1997.)

The University of Southern California, Teacher Corps Cycle VII. Two-year graduate studies program focused on Troubled Youth. Los Angeles, CA. MSEd. Degree: 1972-1974.

California State University at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. B.A. Degree: 1965 -1972.


PROPRIETARY PUBLICATIONS and INVOLVEMENT WITH OTHERS

Ph.D. Dissertation: Maturity and Choice in Adolescents Incarcerated for Murder and Homicide (Ann Arbor; University Microfilms; 1997)

Jack & Jill, Why They Kill (Seattle; Onjinjinkta Publishing Co., 2000)

Bully-Proofing Your Child (eBook, published in 2001).

B.R.A.V.E. (Be Resilient Avoid Violence Everywhere). Field-tested (2001-2002, CA) by Downey Unified School District and the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Juvenile Court and Community Schools (JCCS). B.R.A.V.E. has been cited by the FBI/ATF Philadelphia Region as an example of “best community practices” for its violence education and prevention curriculum for grades 6 – 12.

Los Angeles County Anti-Truancy Ordinance (Public Law No. 96-0009, co-written in 1995, with other educators and lawyers, at request of then-County Supervisor Deane Dana).

Los Angeles County Master Plan for School Safety (1998; Co-Editor)

Advisor on the Los Angeles County Office of Education and California State Department of Education “Classroom Management Guide” (2000)

Advisor on the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors manual, “Helping Improve Police Practices” (H.I.P.P.). A guide on improving relationships between law enforcement and students, particularly student gang members.

“Prosecutors as Persecutors: Can an Expert Save Justice?” (first published by T.A.B., Technical Assistance Bureau for attorneys).

“Evaluating Your Witness and Witnessing Their Value.” Article for National Defender Investigator Association’s Eagle Eye magazine.

“In Loco Parentis: the Hot Stock Du Jour.” This article first appeared at www.Calif-Legal.com, and was the subject of my interview with editor Andrew Brownstein of TRIAL magazine (published by American Association for Justice, formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America).

“Expert Witnesses May Find Schools Hazardous to a Child’s Health.” Article for Consumer Attorneys of California Forum magazine.

“Drop the Fiction of Safe Schools,” published by the Los Angeles Times.

“The Cruel Arithmetic of Adolescentcide,” published by the Long Beach Press Telegram.

“Armed School Police Don’t Equal Safer Schools,” published by the Los Angeles
Times.

“Kids Killing Kids,” the Boca Raton (FL) Times.


HONORS, PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND ACTIVITIES

“Certificate of Recognition” from the California State Legislature, for book: Jack and Jill, Why They Kill

The Neil Matsumora Scholarship, University of Southern California

The Phi Delta Kappa, Mt. Baldy Chapter, “Best (Doctoral) Dissertation of the Year” Award for four-year in-prison/in-person research on children who killed.

President-Elect of the California Association of Supervisors of Child Welfare and Attendance (CASCWA)

Association of California School Administrators (ACSA)

The California Teachers Association (CTA)

Member of the American Society of Trial Consultants

Member of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice

Associate Member of the American Bar Association

CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS

Board member of G.O.O.D. (“Gangs Out of Downey”) Organization. Other G.O.O.D. members with whom I worked include Judge Roy Paul, Judge David Perkins, Judge A. Lord, and Judge Manuel Rodriguez.

Member of the Multi-Agency Task Force on Gangs, Norwalk, CA.

Rotary International District No. 1774


AFFILIATIONS WITH EXPERT WITNESS REFERRAL ORGANIZATIONS

• Technical Advisory Service for Attorneys (T.A.S.A.)
• Technical Assistance Bureau (T.A.B.)
• ExpertWitness.com
• eWitness.com
• California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
• Experts.com
• Forensis Group
• Expert Resources, Inc.
• National Expert Witness Network
• Summit Professional Resources
• Forensic Expert Advisors
• Consolidated Consultants Company
• The Chatham Group
• DJS Associates, Inc.


OTHER INFORMATION

Dr. Shaw began studying the social phenomenon of troubled and at-risk youth while a graduate student (1972-1974) in the nationally-acclaimed Urban Teacher Corps VII program at the University of Southern California. His training at USC’s Delinquency Prevention Institute led to further gang education training by (1) the Department of Justice (at the L.A. County Office of Education and Inglewood USD “Gang Summit”); (2) the Norwalk Sheriff Department’s Multi-Agency Task Force on Gangs; (3) the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Youth Leadership Academy; (4) the Gang Awareness Project (GAP); (5) the Gang Risk Intervention Program (GRIP); (6) Juvenile Delinquency Summits conducted by California State Senator Betty Karnette (Long Beach); and (7) professional conferences across the nation hosted by law enforcement agencies and educators.

Dr. James E. Shaw is considered one of the nation's foremost gang, troubled youth, school safety and youth violence experts, and is still a regular guest expert on television and radio (Good Morning, America; NBC Today Show; O’Reilly Factor; MSNBC Live; CBS EyeWitness News; ABC News; CNN; and Associated Press Radio). He is quoted by a range of publications, from TRIAL magazine to the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post Media Group to the Baca Raton Times to the Atlanta Journal Constitution to the Long Beach Press Telegram to the Sacramento Bee Newspaper to Seventeen Magazine. He spent 48 months inside California Youth Authority state youth prisons interviewing and studying 103 girls and boys, among them gang members, incarcerated for committing murder and homicide.

The only researcher in the country allowed to go inside prisons and behind bars to get the life stories of a spectrum of children who killed, Dr. Shaw wrote the landmark, nationally-acclaimed book, Jack and Jill, Why They Kill, as a result of his four-year study. Referred to on CNN as the "the smart answer for today's troubled times," Jack and Jill, Why They Kill has a wide readership among school administrators, teachers, social workers, attorneys, law enforcement officers, districts attorney, probation officers, members of the clergy, psychologists, medical doctors, judges, colleges and universities, and students themselves. The book is used in colleges and universities nationwide. Dr. Shaw coined the word “adolescentcide,” meaning children who kill other children. He has presented gang awareness and school safety programs for the California Attorney General, elected officials, law enforcement associations, and school administrators nationwide.


SOME WRITTEN COMMENTS ABOUT Dr. Shaw’s Jack & Jill, Why They Kill
Reviewer: The Honorable Lee Baca, Sheriff, Los Angeles County
“No public safety policy maker can afford to overlook this common sense uncovering of the cause, terror, and nature of this human tragedy.”
Reviewer: The Honorable Nancy D. Daniels, Referee, Los Angeles Superior Court
“Jack & Jill, Why They Kill should be in the maternity packet of expectant and adoptive parents and on the desk of every school teacher, child welfare worker and juvenile court judge.”
Reviewer: The Honorable Pamela Davis, Judge, Santa Monica Superior Court
“Bravo, Dr. Shaw, for a finely-crafted book that will inspire parents and may yet save the lives of countless children!”