Closing arguments were made Friday by attorneys in a torture-mayhem case in Ventura County Superior Court involving two alleged Simi Valley gang members accused of brutalizing two men.

One of the victims, Zacarias Carranza, testified that defendant Delfino Vasquez used a box cutter to carve his initials on Carranza's back. Jurors were presented with a large photograph of Carranza's back showing scars more than a foot in length and made by a razor-blade tool, according to prosecutors.

Jurors received the case late Friday afternoon. Vasquez, 34, and Walter Escamilla, 27, are charged with aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment, torture and assault with a deadly weapon.

Prosecutor Joann Roth made passionate arguments to the jury, saying that it was time for justice against the two members and their gang, the Westside Locos.

"They are parasites that feed in the underworld of Simi," she said.

Vasquez, whose gang moniker is "Sleepy," and Escamilla, whose gang nickname is "Perro," Spanish for dog, are members of Simi Valley's most violent criminal street gang, according to Roth.

Criminal attorneys Randy Tucker, who represented Vasquez, and Joseph O'Neill, who represented Escamilla, presented two different defenses for their clients.

Tucker said the prosecution's case against his client is based on witnesses who are liars, and he criticized Roth for calling Carranza's testimony "brave."

"I'll just say it up front: baloney," Tucker said, adding that the prosecution's case rests on a weak platform.

"If you look at the legs of the platform, they don't hold up the weight. Again, we're dealing with liars," said Tucker, who is with the county's Public Defender's Office.

O'Neill said his client never knew that Vasquez intended to commit the crimes.

"The perpetrator in this case is Mr. Delfino Vasquez," O'Neill said, adding that his client, who only speaks Spanish, didn't encourage, give orders to, cheer or applaud Vasquez.

O'Neill asked jurors to consider how Escamilla got the moniker "Perro."

"Could it be that Mr. Escamilla follows blindly and loyally like a dog?" O'Neill said.

Roth outlined the specific details and testimony involving the alleged crimes on Oct. 14, 2006. She said the first victim, David Youell, was punched, choked into unconsciousness and stomped on the head, and his face was slashed from the temple to the lower chin by Vasquez.

She said Escamilla blocked the door to prevent escape.

A month later, Carranza was lured into the same apartment on Patricia Street in Simi Valley by Escamilla, according to testimony. Vasquez was waiting there and walked up behind Carranza with a box cutter, Roth told jurors.

She said Carranza was forced to kneel while Vasquez carved his initials on his back, accused him of stealing computer files and threatened to kill him. Escamilla blocked the door, Roth said.

Later, the defendants took him to another home, where Vasquez drilled into Carranza's hand with a power tool, the prosecutor said. He was forced to steal beer and drink it with the defendants, she said.

"This went on for hours," she said, noting that both victims cried while testifying.