Conviction Unlikely if Murder Tried as Hate Crime, Prosecutor Says

Relatives of a 22-year-old man killed in a Laguna Niguel bar fight called on prosecutors today to charge the defendant with a hate crime, but the case’s prosecutor said it would make it harder to win a guilty verdict.

The family of Shayan Mazroei, who was of Iranian descent, are alleging that there is evidence the dispute started when he was insulted with racial epithets.

The defendant -- Craig Matthew Tanber -- is a member of a prominent Orange County white supremacist gang who has a conviction for voluntary manslaughter.

Mazroei got into an argument with a female friend of Tanber’s just after midnight Sept. 8 at Patsy’s Irish Pub in Laguna Niguel. It’s not clear what sparked the conflict, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin.

“It started off as people talking in a bar and it got out of hand, which sometimes happens in bars,” Yellin said.

However, it quickly devolved with her hurling racial insults at the victim and spitting in his face, Yellin alleged. Mazroei, in turn, spit in her face, Yellin said.

Tanber, however, “wasn’t even present when she did” racially insult the victim, Yellin said. And even if it could be proven she relayed everything to Tanber later then the prosecutor would still have to prove the defendant killed Mazroei because of his ethnicity, Yellin said.

“It’s not possible for me to make that connection legally,” Yellin said.

Convicting Tanber of a hate crime would not make much of a difference in his punishment given that the defendant already faces 76 years to life in prison as a third striker, Yellin said.

“It’s legally insignificant,” Yellin said. “It seems to matter to them and I understand that, but it doesn’t mean that I can prove it.”

With evidence from eyewitnesses and surveillance video, prosecutors believe they have a strong case for murder, but adding a hate crime to the mix might lead to problems gaining a conviction and pose issues later with appeals, Yellin said.

If there was enough evidence to indicate a hate crime occurred, “It would still be a foolish idea (to prosecute it) because it wouldn’t be a strong case and it would compromise the possibility of a verdict,” Yellin said.

The victim’s family’s attorney, Neama Rahmani, said at a news conference in Irvine today that his office is continuing to investigate the conflict.

“What I can say is Tanber is a known white supremacist,” Rahmani said. “He has gang tattoos, so his thoughts on Iranian-Americans are clear.

“We are still investigating his comments ... and his motivation, but I think it’s a fair assumption to say that he and his girlfriend do not hold Iranian-Americans in high esteem and in fact (that) may have been a motivation for the murder.”

A friend of Tanber’s apparently said something rude to the victim, prompting a response from him that angered the defendant, Yellin said. Tanber then allegedly punched and stabbed Mazroei twice in the upper chest area, Yellin said.

Tanber was friends with the woman at the center of the conflict, but they did not have a romantic relationship, Yellin said.

Tanber was free on parole at the time of the conflict. He had been charged with special circumstances murder in the April 4, 2004 beating death of 26-year-old Cory Lamons in Huntington Beach, but he struck a plea bargain with prosecutors after a mistrial was declared when an alternate juror Googled one of the co-defendants and shared the information with other panelists.

Tanber pleaded guilty Feb. 2, 2007 to voluntary manslaughter and admitted sentencing enhancements for doing so to benefit a street gang, according to court records. He also pleaded guilty to dissuading a witness by force, street terrorism and assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury. Tanber was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Convicted killer Billy Joe Johnson, the accused ringleader who lured Lamons to where he was beaten, was one of the co-defendants in Tanber’s case. Johnson is on death row in San Quentin. He was sentenced to death in November 2009, when he told jurors he wanted to go to San Quentin because he would have better amenities there, such as a television set.

If Tanber had been convicted of special circumstances murder he would have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Tanber is charged with murder with sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a knife and prior strike convictions for the Lamons killing. He also has prior strike convictions for residential burglary in 2001, and is accused of serving a prison term for one year or more and not remaining free for more than five years.

City News Service; Photo: Craig Matthew Tanber courtesy of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department