HEADNOTE: Mario Rodriguez Gutierrez v. State of Maryland, No. 98 ...

too great to allow the evidence to be put before the jury. See id. at 237.
Illinois also adopts this cautious approach. In People v. Bryant, 609 N.E.2d 910 (Ill.
App. Ct. 1993), the Illinois appellate court permitted expert testimony on the customs of the
Folks Gang, where lay witness testimony supplied a link between that gang and the murder
for which defendant Bryant was on trial. There, fact witnesses testified that Bryant
exchanged words with the deceased, Houston, and the deceased’s friend, Frazier, over the
return of a friend’s pager. See id. at 913–14. When Frazier demanded the pager, Bryant
turned to an alleged fellow gang member and said, “[Folks], give him that pager.” Id. at 913.
The alleged gang member complied, tried to shake Frazier’s hand and then “[threw] up a
pitchfork.” Id. Frazier returned the handshake, but did not “throw up a pitchfork[,]” to
which Bryant responded, “[You’re] not right, you’re not right. I thought you were folks. .
. . what the hell you doing coming around here if you’re not folks . . . you’ll get whooped like
your boy.” Id. A physical fight ensued, and Houston joined in to aid his friend. See id. at
913–14. Soon thereafter, as Frazier was fleeing the scene, he heard gunshots and looked
back to see Bryant standing near Houston and holding a gun. See id. at 914.
In addition to this eyewitness testimony, the State introduced, and the trial court
permitted, the testimony of a Chicago detective who had dealt extensively with that city’s
street gangs and was familiar with the gang that refers to themselves as “folks.” See Bryant,
609 N.E.2d at 914. The detective explained that the pitchfork is a sign unique to the “folks”
street gang, and that, in his opinion, “when an individual uses the hand signal of a pitchfork
in an up position, that individual is affiliated with the ‘folks’ gang.” Id. at 914, 920. The
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