Man Convicted of Violating Order : Blythe Street: The alleged gang member is the first person found guilty under the sweeping court injunction. The case is expected to test its legality.

The first alleged member of the Blythe Street gang to be prosecuted under a sweeping court order that bars normally legal activities in that area was convicted Tuesday in Van Nuys Municipal Court. Jessie (Speedy) Gonzalez was found guilty of violating the injunction by possessing a pager and a glass bottle, among other infractions.

With both sides assuming that the conviction will be used as a test case to challenge the validity of the controversial court order, attorneys in the case were careful with documents and arguments presented to Judge Lloyd M. Nash, who presided over a short trial without a jury.

Gonzalez is an 18-year-old Panorama City resident who “absolutely denies” being a member of the Blythe Street gang, according to his court-appointed lawyer, Cynthia Solomon. The court order was issued in an attempt to curb gang activity along Blythe Street in Panorama City.

Nash found that Gonzalez was in contempt of the court order for failing to comply with a 22-point injunction by possessing a pager, a glass bottle that authorities say he threw at a police car, being on private property without the written permission of the owner, and obstructing traffic.

After rendering his verdict, Nash sentenced Gonzalez to three years of probation and 90 days in jail. Because of time already served and credits, Gonzalez is expected to be released by this morning after serving about 33 days in custody.

Nash declined to rule on the constitutionality of the preliminary injunction, which was obtained by the city attorney’s office in April in Van Nuys Superior Court.

While the prohibited acts may seem harmless, police say they enable the gang to deal drugs and intimidate residents in the 180-square-block area covered by the court order. The American Civil Liberties Union unsuccessfully fought the injunction, which also prohibits standing on rooftops and possessing cellular phones.

City Atty. James Hahn welcomed the conviction of Gonzalez. “Residents of the area, most of them members of minority groups and many of them immigrants who come here in search of a better life, had become prisoners in their own homes locked behind security bars, security doors and security fences while the Blythe Street gang ran free. That had to stop,” he said in a prepared statement.

Gonzalez was the first of more than a dozen alleged gang members who have been arrested for violating the court order.

His conviction and the underlying preliminary injunction is being challenged in Superior Court by the Los Angeles County office of the public defender.

“We consider (Tuesday’s trial) just one step along a path to having the injunction declared unconstitutional,” said Deputy Public Defender Alex Ricciardulli, who handles appeals for his office.