the increasing police presence. Criminal trial The resulting criminal trial is now generally viewed as lacking in the fundamental requirements of due process. Seventeen Latino youths were indicted on the murder charges and placed on trial. The seventeen defendants were to be subject to a verdict regarding the death of Jose Diaz. Twelve of these people were declared guilty for the murder of Diaz and the other five were found guilty of assault.Ysmael Parra was one of the seventeen people who were convicted for the death of Jose Diaz. Parra was sentenced to serve five years to life in prison and was convicted with intent to commit murder. Along with Parra, Henry Ynostroza, Gus Zammora, Jack Melendez, Victor Thompson, Manuel Reyes, Angel Padilla, Robert Telles, Manuel Delgado and John Matuz all received a five to life in prison after their conviction. Ruiz, Leyvas, and Telles were immediately sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder. Many people fought against these convictions on the basis that there was a racial motivation behind the decisions made for their convictions as the media had been portraying, not only the defendants as criminals, but people of color and Latinos as well. The courtroom was small and, during the trial, the defendants were not allowed to sit near, or to communicate with, their attorneys. None of those charged were permitted to change their clothes during the trial by order of Judge Fricke at the request of the district attorney on the grounds that the jury should see the defendants in the zoot suits that were "obviously" worn only by "hoodlums". Every time a name was mentioned by a witness or the district attorney, regardless of how damning the statement was, the named defendant was required to stand up. Judge Fricke also permitted the chief of the Foreign Relations Bureau of the Los Angeles sheriff's office, E. Duran Ayres, to testify as an "expert witness" that Mexicans as a community had a "blood-thirst" and a "biological predisposition" to crime and killing, citing the culture of human sacrifice practiced by their Aztec ancestors. Activist involvement The Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee (SLDC) was a community organization made up of Los Angeles community members and activists who came together to support the defendants. The SLDC was also known as The Citizens' Committee for the Defense of Mexican-American Youth. During the time of the trials many activists criticized the