Defense can explore McHenry stabbing victim's gang ties

The defense for a McHenry man charged with stabbing a teenage acquaintance to death can tell jurors about the victim's purported gang ties, a judge ruled Thursday, but may be doing so at its own risk.

The attorney for Victor Bandala-Martinez, 22, hopes to explore the gang angle as he tries to make a case that his client stabbed 17-year-old Yair Cabrera in self-defense during an early-morning altercation at a December 2008 house party.

Bandala-Martinez, of the 1600 block of Park Street, is scheduled to go on trial next week on a charge of first-degree murder stemming from the incident. He would face up to 60 years in prison if convicted.

Police said the stabbing occurred when a fight broke out about 2:34 a.m. Dec. 14, 2008 after a night of drinking involving the suspect, Cabrera and several others.

Court documents initially said Bandala-Martinez killed Cabrera - a sophomore at McHenry High School's West Campus - with a fork, but have since been changed to describe the murder weapon as "a sharp object."

McHenry County Judge Joseph Condon ruled Thursday that Bandala-Martinez attorney Christopher Harmon could present evidence at trial that Cabrera had street gang ties. However, the judge warned, that would allow county prosecutors to delve into similar evidence about the accused.

That evidence, according to a recent court filing by prosecutors, includes a poster on Bandala-Martinez' bedroom wall reading, "Surenos Love," an apparent reference to the Surenos 13 street gang.