EGN NEWS DESK
On Monday, as Bingham’s preliminary listening to concluded, his legal professional, Jeff G. Moore, challenged the deserves of the deputy’s March 23 arrest in Riverside County and the following search of his residence in Twentynine Palms.
During the search, investigators seized roughly 160 firearms, together with a totally automated assault rifle with an hooked up grenade launcher, in addition to three explosive projective units, 4 silencers and Mongols memorabilia, together with a totally patched leather-based vest, T-shirts, stickers and a black helmet with Mongols stickers on it.
Sheriff’s investigators arrested Bingham, 45, on April 4, after an investigation that started in January. He pleaded not responsible throughout his April 9 arraignment. And throughout an interview on the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, the place he’s being held on $240,000 bail, Bingham denied being a member of the Mongols, and mentioned issues “weren’t what they appeared.”
Motion to quash
In a movement filed with the courtroom to quash the search warrant and suppress the proof, Moore challenged what investigators cited as the premise for Bingham’s arrest — that he was carrying a loaded firearm whereas collaborating in a prison avenue gang.
Moore mentioned the legislation permits sworn peace officers to hold firearms, both on or off obligation. “This arrest was with out possible trigger and with out authorized justification,” he mentioned.
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When Judge Alexander R. Martinez requested Moore if that legislation would apply had Bingham been been suspected of “actively associating with a prison gang,” Moore mentioned, “That’s appropriate.”
Moore additionally argued that the suspected Mongols belt buckle and different clothes objects Bingham was carrying on the time of his first arrest weren’t observed till after he was pulled over and his Glock was seized. He mentioned investigators lacked any details proving Bingham was a Mongols gang member or a participant in any crime.
Moore additionally argued that the search warrant was overly broad and did not particularly state Bingham was a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy when it was offered to a judge to signal.
Red herring
Deputy District Attorney Alberto Juan known as Moore’s argument a crimson herring.
“We shouldn’t overthink this,” Juan mentioned. “There isn’t any purpose to suppress this proof.”
Juan mentioned possible trigger for Bingham’s arrest stemmed from the assumption he was associating with Mongols gang members and carrying firearms. At the time of his arrest on the westbound 10 Freeway, west of Oak Valley Parkway in Beaumont, Bingham was driving with two Mongols gang members carrying absolutely patched vests and he possessed a 9mm Glock.
When the CHP sergeant who pulled Bingham over ran the Glock serial quantity by the state Department of Justice database, it got here again as unregistered, however that was as a result of he entered the quantity incorrectly. When sheriff’s investigators later checked it themselves, they discovered that the gun was, in truth, registered to Bingham, in accordance with courtroom testimony.
When Judge Martinez requested Juan why his workplace didn’t criminally cost Bingham with being an energetic participant in a prison avenue gang in possession of a firearm, Juan mentioned it was as a result of Bingham was arrested in Riverside County and his workplace didn’t have jurisdiction.
Martinez mentioned he wanted time to think about authorized arguments from the prosecution and protection.
‘Hangaround’
The remaining witness for the prosecution, Sgt. Josh Guerry of the sheriff’s gang and narcotics division, testified that Bingham was suspected of being a Mongols “hangaround” — somebody who shouldn’t be an official member however hangs out with and rides with members, attends rallies and different occasions, and has earned the gang’s belief.
At the time of Bingham’s first arrest, he was believed to be driving with two Mongols members to a rally in Azusa, Guerry testified. He mentioned the projectile explosive units, machine gun and silencers present in Bingham’s residence have been believed to be for the good thing about the Mongols.
Before he was transferred to the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino to work as a correctional deputy, Bingham served as an armorer on the sheriff’s Morongo Basin station in Joshua Tree, Guerry mentioned.
During the search of Bingham’s residence, investigators discovered a less-than-lethal shotgun stolen from the sheriff’s Morongo Basin station in a gun protected in his storage, in accordance with courtroom testimony.
Guerry additionally testified that textual content messages obtained from considered one of Bingham’s seized telephones revealed a dialogue he had with a suspected Mongols member about having Bingham convert a Glock coaching pistol into a totally functioning firearm by changing the slides.
He acknowledged, nonetheless, that there was no proof displaying Bingham equipped Mongols members with weapons or ammunition.
Before becoming a member of the Sheriff’s Department in 2005, Bingham served within the U.S. Marine Corps from September 1998 to September 2002. He served as a rifleman, rose to the rank of corporal and obtained a number of commendations. In 2015 he opened O’Three Tactical gun store on Twentynine Palms Highway, however shuttered the enterprise in 2021.
In late 2019 or early 2020, Bingham got here below suspicion by his division for improperly utilizing the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, or CLETS, to conduct prison background checks. The Sheriff’s Department referred the case to the District Attorney’s Office to think about prison costs, however county prosecutors rejected the case in January 2020 on account of inadequate proof.
