‘A huge catastrophe waiting to happen’: Aryan Brotherhood drama spills into Northern California courtroom as lawyer joins in the name-calling

SACRAMENTO — The Aryan Brotherhood RICO trial has hit a bit of a wrinkle three weeks in: two of the defendants apparently would like to murder one another, and haven’t been shy about expressing it.

On the van ride from the Robert Matsui Federal Courthouse to New Folsom prison last week, Ronald Dean Yandell and Danny Troxell blew up at each other with a series of back-and-forth death threats that an officer described as “probably a 10 out of 10.” Earlier that day, in court, Troxell’s lawyer and Yandell taunted and jeered at each other outside the presence of the judge and jury, according to a court transcript.

“So, ‘I’m going to kill you. I’m going to f—ing kill you. You’re a rat.’ All sorts of expletives,” the unnamed officer recounted in court, describing the exchange between Troxell and Yandell on the prison van. “I don’t know if you want me to go on the record.”

“You don’t need to,” Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller said. “The gist is fine.”

Yandell, Troxell and a third man, William Sylvester, are all facing charges that they used their status in the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang to run various illegal rackets, arrange murders and coordinate efforts to smuggle contraband behind bars. The witnesses against them have included former gang members, including one who testified on the day the courtroom drama unfolded.

In light of the threats, prosecutors asked Mueller to again consider shackling the defendants while they’re in court, a move that a defense attorney argued would make the trial “completely unworkable” and prejudice jurors against them. Mueller declined to take that step, but confirmed with courtroom security that they’re keeping all potential weapons out of reach of the defendants.

The U.S. Marshals officer said that they were being cautious.

“If they were to be any closer and able to have their hands free, it would be a huge catastrophe waiting to happen,” a courtroom officer said.

There has already been tension between Troxell and his two co-defendants, based on his decision to pursue a legal defense that paints Troxell as a peacemaker and shifts blame away from him and toward the other two. But much of the cross-examination by Troxell’s lawyer, Todd Leras, has served a different purpose; he has directly asked several witnesses whether Yandell and Sylvester broke Aryan Brotherhood codes of conduct.

Those tensions boiled over after the jury left for the day on March 5, when Leras engaged in a back-and-forth name-calling match with Yandell, a West Contra Costa native. The following day, when Mueller scolded Leras for joining the fray, he had an explanation ready: that Yandell started it.

“Yandell said, ‘You’re a f—ing piece of s—, you’re a f—ing piece of s—, and so is your fat a– friend there,'” Leras told Mueller, adding that he was “surprised and taken aback” that Yandell’s attorney didn’t “have him under control.”

Leras, according to a court transcript, responded, “At least I’m not a rat,” an especially cutting insult in the world of prison gang politics. That remark “rais(ed) the temperature to 1,000 degrees,” Yandell’s lawyer, Steven Kalar, said in court the next day.

“There is no greater insult for a defendant than to be accused of being a snitch. And Mr. Leras stating that to my client was jaw-dropping,” Kalar said.

Just that quickly, Mueller went from litigating complex issues in a high-profile racketeering case to having to moderate a schoolyard argument. She scolded everyone, telling Leras that he needed to “rise above that” as an officer of the court, and later asking all three defendants to promise they’d keep vitriol out of the courthouse. Leras agreed and apologized.

“If the court needs to stay here until you are all gone I will do that,” Mueller said to the defense attorneys. “But to have those accusations made is extremely disappointing to the court.”

A few minutes later, with the defendants brought in, Mueller reminded them that courtrooms are “sacred in a secular sense” and asked them to promise there wouldn’t be a repeat of the March 5 incident, starting with Yandell.

“I give you my word, Your Honor,” Yandell said, followed by Sylvester simply saying, “Yes,” in agreement.

Then it was Troxell’s turn.

“Same promise,” he said.