P. v. Lewis
Filed 1/31/14 P. v. Lewis CA1/3
OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules
of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying
on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as
specified by rule 8.1115(b). This
opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for
purposes of rule 8.1115.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION THREE
THE PEOPLE,
Plaintiff and
Respondent,
v.
RICHARD LEWIS,
Defendant and
Appellant.
A130771
(Alameda
County
Super. Ct. No. C160946D)
In re RICHARD LEWIS,
on Habeas Corpus.
A134895
Yusuf Bey V (Fifth) and Joshua Bey
(Joshua), members of Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland, admitted involvement
with others in crimes against Jane Doe One and Jane Doe Two, including
the night of May 17, 2007. Fifth and
Joshua identified defendant Richard Lewis, a short-term Bakery member, as a
participant in the crimes, and they were the principal
his jury trial.
Lewis was convicted by the jury of carjacking
(Pen. Code, § 215, subd. (a)) and kidnapping (Pen. Code, § 207, subd.
(a)) Doe Two, and of the following offenses against Doe One: carjacking (Pen. Code, § 215, subd.
(a)); kidnapping for extortion with
§ 209, subd. (a)); kidnapping for robbery (Pen. Code, § 209, subd.
(b)(1)); and torture (Pen. Code, § 206). The jury found true allegations that Lewis
committed all of the offenses while armed with a firearm. (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (a)(1).) He was sentenced to: life without the
possibility of parole, plus one year
for the firearm allegation, for kidnapping Doe One for extortion; a consecutive
term of life, plus one year, for torturing Doe One; and a consecutive term of eight
years for kidnapping Doe Two.
|
Lewis
challenges his convictions and sentence on multiple grounds. His lead argument on appeal rests on the rule
that accomplice testimony must be
corroborated by other evidence connecting a defendant to the crime. (Pen. Code, § 1111.) Lewis maintains that such corroboration was,
as a matter of law, lacking here. Lewis’s
other main argument, advanced in the appeal and related petition for habeas
corpus, is that he was improperly convicted through guilt by association. He submits that his counsel was incompetent
for failing to object to the admission of evidence of crimes committed by other
Bakery members, and that he was prejudiced by the omission.
Although the evidence of
corroboration was slight, we conclude it was sufficient to make its adequacy an
issue for the jury. However, we can see
no justification for counsel’s failure to object to admission of the
third-party other crimes evidence, which included shoplifting,
criminal threats, false imprisonment, illegal firearm possession and use, and
murder. The appellate record shows that
counsel had no tactical reason not to object to introduction of this irrelevant
and inflammatory evidence.
The prosecutor exploited the other
crimes evidence in arguments to the jury by, among other things, calling the
Bakery a “terrorist stronghold,†and linking Lewis to the notorious murder of
journalist Chauncey Bailey. He said that
Lewis and Devaughndre Broussard, Bailey’s killer, were “gangsters from San Francisco,†and
that “Chauncey Bailey gets killed,†when “[y]ou get guys like Lewis on the
scene.â€
The case for conviction was very
close. There was no strong evidence of
guilt apart from the testimony of accomplices who benefited greatly from their
participation in the prosecution case.
When we consider the effect of the other crimes evidence in light of the
thin evidence of Lewis’s guilt, we are compelled to conclude that admission of
the other crimes evidence was prejudicial.
We therefore reverse the judgment of conviction.
I. BACKGROUND
A. The Kidnappings,
Torture, and Rescue
Oakland Police Officer
Borjesson was alone on patrol around 11:00 p.m. on May 17, 2007, investigating a report of a stolen car. He found the stolen car parked on Church Street
and went to the intersection of Church and Avenal Streets, intending to make
U-turn, when he spotted what appeared to be an unmarked police car parked on
Church. The car was a Crown Victoria, with
a black male in the driver’s seat. The
man was wearing a “black beanie,†“like a knit style black ski [cap],†and Borjesson
could not see his features. Borjesson was
concerned about interfering with a police operation in the area, and was going
to drive up to the Crown Victoria, when he heard the sound of breaking glass
from the house on the corner of Church and Avenal, and the sounds of fences
rattling from the back of the house, as though people were fleeing through
backyards.
Borjesson trained his lights on the
house and saw the front window being broken out by a woman, Doe One, screaming
for help. She was bleeding, handcuffed, and
nude from the waist down with a bag over her head. She appeared to be seriously injured, and Borjesson
thought he had happened upon a burglary.
He called for an ambulance and additional officers. Doe One reported that she had been kidnapped
at gunpoint by people in the Crown Victoria.
Borjesson went into the house with other officers. No one was there.
Doe One testified that she was
driving her Pontiac and taking her mother, Doe Two, home after playing bingo, when they
were pulled over on the 580 Freeway by what she thought was a police car. She stopped on the shoulder of the road, and
the other car stopped behind her. She
heard the door open on her mother’s side of the car, and a man wearing a mask
came to the driver’s side door, pointed a long rifle at her, opened the door,
and pulled her out. She described the
mask as a black beanie cap like a ski mask with holes for the eyes. She said that the mask looked like a black
knit beanie cap that was later recovered from a Chrysler, another vehicle used
in the abduction.
The man took her at gunpoint to the Crown
Victoria. She got in the backseat, the
man with the rifle sat next to her, and Doe Two sat on the other side of him. Doe Two had Doe One’s purse, and the
abductors had taken their cell phones. Doe
One saw someone drive her car away from the scene. She was handcuffed by a man in the front
passenger seat, and either that man or the gunman next to her put a plastic
garbage bag over her head. The gunman
poked a hole in the bag by her mouth so she could breathe, and told her that
she would live if she cooperated.
The Crown Victoria came to a stop
after a short drive. Doe One was helped
to walk a short way and placed on a chair.
She could not see where she was going due to the bag over her head, and
her skirt slipped off as she was walking.
Two people asked her where she and Tim kept their money. Doe One was a cocaine dealer and bought the
drug from Tim Crawford. The men said
that they had been watching her at the Rumors bar, where she bought and sold
cocaine. The night before, when she left
Rumors to drive home, she thought she had been followed by a dark car. When she was kidnapped on May 17, she had
cocaine in her purse.
She told her kidnappers that she had
no money and did not know where Tim kept his money, and she was hit on the top
of her head with a very heavy object.
She thought she had been shot and blood ran down her face. She was later hit with the heavy object on
her leg, and again on her head. She may
have lost consciousness and could not remember everything that happened to
her. But she recalled being threatened
when one of her abductors said he would put a hot curling iron up her
vagina. She was also told that she and
her mother would be dumped on a hill, which she took as a death threat. She told Officer Borjesson that she was also threatened
with gasoline.
After she admitted she knew Tim and
gave her abductors her address, she heard glass breaking and people
running. When it sounded like no one was
there, she ran to a window, broke it with her elbow, and screamed for
help. When she was outside the house
with the bag off her head, she saw someone jump over a fence. The person was small, like the man who pulled
her out of her car.
Doe One received stitches on her
head and hand. Her hand had a gash from
being cut, and her blood was found on a knife recovered at the scene. Doe Two was found in the backseat of the Crown
Victoria with a heavy cloth over her head.
She appeared to be in shock, and was unresponsive to police questions. Doe Two was 68 years old at the time of trial,
suffered from mental illness, and did not testify.
B. The Bakery, Its Members, and Debts
The Crown Victoria, and a Chrysler
also parked near the house at the corner of Church and Avenal, belonged to Your
Black Muslim Bakery (the Bakery). The
Bakery was a business that sold food and provided security services, as well as
a religious organization that followed and preached the teachings of the Nation
of Islam. The Bakery was founded by Dr.
Yusuf Bey, whose 42 children included Yusuf Bey IV (Fourth), Fifth, and Joshua. The Bakery owned several buildings in Oakland, including its
storefront at 5832 San Pablo
Avenue, residences across
the street, and a duplex in back at 1083 59th Street. The Bakery had a military wing
known as the “Fruit of Islam.†Its members wore suits and bow ties, had
military titles, performed army style drills, and were expected to respond to
“fruit calls†to protect the Bakery and its members.
After Dr. Bey died in 2003,
leadership of the Bakery passed to Antar Bey, and when Antar was murdered in
2005, leadership passed to Fourth.
Joshua and Fifth came to live at the Bakery in 2006. Lewis joined the Bakery after he was released
from San Francisco County jail on May 2, 2007. Lewis and Fourth got to know each other when
they were housed together in the jail in April and May of 2006. Fourth sent Lewis a letter in June 2006
saying, “I hope you staying strong up in there, because you can’t get in
trouble, because it’s going to mess up the plans we got when you get out.â€
The Bakery’s business deteriorated
under Fourth, and in 2006 it filed for bankruptcy. Antar had borrowed $600,000 against the
Bakery’s properties, and the money had disappeared. The Bakery owed monthly payments of $30,000
and, including unpaid taxes, the Bakery’s debt exceeded $1 million. Fourth tried to get a loan for the Bakery,
but the loan fell through.
C. Fourth, Fifth, Joshua,
and Halfin Are Picked Up on the Night of the Kidnappings
Aurelia Carrasco
testified that she was celebrating her 20th birthday in Berkeley on the
night of May
17, 2007, when Fifth, her ex-boyfriend,
called and asked her to pick him up at a gas station at 73rd and Bancroft Avenues
in Oakland to give him a ride home. The
location was on her way home so she agreed.
When Carrasco got to the gas station, Joshua was with Fifth, and she
drove them to the Bakery. She later
visited Fifth in jail and took calls from him while he was there. Fifth asked her to say that he was with her
on her birthday, but she refused.
Kahlil Raheem testified that Fourth
placed a “fruit call†to him around 11:30 p.m. on May 17, and said he
needed to be picked up at Havenscourt
Boulevard and Bancroft in Oakland, ten blocks
away from the house where Doe One was tortured.
Raheem had joined the Bakery in 2004, and was living at the duplex at 1083 59th Street behind the Bakery. Raheem
drove from the duplex and picked up Fourth, who said they had to retrieve the
Bakery’s Chrysler at Church and Avenal, and pick up Tamon Halfin, another
long-time Bakery member who was also nearby.
Fourth gave Raheem the keys to the Chrysler. There were a lot of police at Church and
Avenal, so they picked up Halfin. They
drove to Raheem’s brother’s house, which was two minutes away from the Chrysler. Fourth and Halfin took Raheem’s car and
returned to the Bakery. Raheem waited
and tried to retrieve the Chrysler later that night, but the police were still
there. When he went out to look for the
Chrysler at 8:00 a.m., the police were gone and so was the car.
Fourth told Raheem to report the
Chrysler as stolen, and Raheem did so on May 18. He told the police that he drove the car to
his brother’s house, parked nearby around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. on the 17th, and it was gone when he returned to get it. He told this lie to the police because he did
not want to “throw somebody under the bus.â€
Fourth told Joshua to make up a story about theft of the Crown Victoria. So, Joshua went to a police station and
reported that the Crown Victoria had been stolen. Joshua said that he dropped the keys to the car
in a parking lot when he was out to eat, and that he left his phone in the
car. The Chrysler and the Crown Victoria
were impounded by the police.
D. Evidence From the House
and the Cars, and A Neighbor’s Testimony
The house at the
corner of Avenal and Church, 6826 Avenal, was abandoned and without
electricity. A window with bars above
the porch, and a rear bedroom window, were broken. There was blood on the porch, blood on a
chair next to the stove, and blood on the stove. A knife, red on its tip, was on top of the
kitchen counter, and a sheath was found for the knife. Police found a cell phone in a side
yard. Cigarette butts were recovered,
and the stove and a toilet were swabbed for DNA. The stove and kitchen counter were
unsuccessfully examined for fingerprints.
Doe One’s Pontiac was parked
near the house along with the Crown Victoria and the Chrysler. The Pontiac was swabbed
for DNA.
Examination of the Crown Victoria
showed that it was a former police car, with a siren, strobe, and
spotlights. Passengers could not get out
of the backseat unless a release button was pressed in the front seat. Items found in the Crown Victoria included a
two-way radio, a radio earpiece, a soda can, and documents pertaining to the
Bakery, including a “YBMB Security and Activity Log†binder.
In the Chrysler, the police recovered
a black knit beanie cap on the driver’s floorboard, and more documents
involving the Bakery. Among the
documents were payroll records listing “Kai,†the name by which Raheem knew
Lewis, as a Bakery employee, and a document with identifying information for
several individuals, including “Rakeem Khalil Beyâ€â€”also a name later associated
with Lewis—listing his address as the 1083 59th Street duplex, his Social Security
number, and his date of birth. Other
documents in the Chrysler included: a
binder of Black Muslim teachings, an Islamic code of conduct, books listing Bakery
receipts and debts, a Treasury Department document referring to delinquent
taxes, a letter to Fourth threatening to foreclose on an unpaid debt, and mail
addressed to Halfin.
Alejandro Herrera was a neighbor who
lived in the house behind 6826 Avenal. On
the night of May 17, he heard loud male voices for about 15 minutes coming from
the abandoned house. He looked out his
kitchen window and saw two individuals with hoods over their heads climbing the
chain-link fence between his house and 6826 Avenal. His dog was outside in the yard. He did not see the dog, but heard it barking
aggressively. Herrera took his children
to the living room, and did not see if the individuals who were climbing the
fence came into his yard.
E. Subsequent Developments
Lewis went to the emergency room of Alta Bates Hospital in Oakland at 1:34 a.m. on May 19 for treatment of a foot injury. He said that he injured his foot the previous
night when he fell down some stairs after being frightened by a dog. His right ankle was swollen and tender, but
the skin was not broken. He was
diagnosed with a right ankle sprain, and given a splint and crutches.
On June 2nd, Oakland Police Officer Gysin went
to the Bakery with another officer to investigate an illegally parked school
bus. Fifteen to 25 Bakery members
gathered in a semicircle around them, with their arms folded. Fourth drove up and he and Lewis got out of
the car. Lewis stood in front of the
other members, like someone of importance at the Bakery, as though he were Fourth’s
right hand. Gysin had a number of
previous encounters with Fourth but had not seen Lewis before, and thought Lewis
looked like a person on a wanted flyer the other officer showed him. Gysin requested and received Fourth’s
permission to talk to Lewis. Gysin
needed Fourth’s permission because the Bakery had a “military structure,†and
Fourth was the boss. Lewis told Gysin
that his name was “Richard Lewis,†and gave his birthday. Gysin became suspicious of Lewis because no
one at the Bakery had ever given him a non-Muslim name.
Lewis was hostile and denied having any identification. Gysin handcuffed Lewis, patsearched him, and
found identification in his pocket with his picture and the name “Rakeem Khalil
Bey.†According to Raheem, the Bakery
conferred the name “Bey†only on members of good character.
On June 12, Oakland Police Officer
Grant, the lead investigator in the case, interviewed Raheem and Joshua about
their stolen car reports. Raheem and
Joshua repeated their stories. Grant
knew they were lying, but did not confront them about it.
On July 17, Oakland Police Officers
Snyder and Perez-Angeles responded to a report that a woman was being held
captive at the Bakery. On his way to the
Bakery, Snyder devised a tactical plan that included “lethal cover†if
necessary, because he had been informed that the people who ran the Bakery “are
similar to possibly organized crime, and subjects were known to possess
high-powered rifles, shotguns, and are often armed.†When the officers arrived, the woman was
handcuffed and being held against a wall by six Bakery members. Snyder drew his gun and the men released the
woman. Eight to ten other Bakery members
arrived and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in two lines behind Lewis, who told them
to quiet down and ordered one of them to change his dirty shirt. The officers determined that the woman was
intoxicated and had created a disturbance at the Bakery. Lewis gave a statement to Perez-Angeles
explaining why he placed the woman in handcuffs.
On July 26, Fourth called Grant to
complain about the continued impounding of the Crown Victoria and the
Chrysler. Grant testified that, sometime
between July 26 and August 3, Fourth went to the police station with Lewis and
renewed the complaint.
On July 29, Lewis sat in front of
Fourth as a show of security as Fourth preached for a television camera. Raheem described this as sitting “on post.â€
F. The Raid on the Bakery and Its Aftermath
Police raided the Bakery on August
3, the day after journalist Chauncey Bailey was murdered. The raid was carried out by an unprecedented
number of SWAT team members from throughout the county. One of the officers involved described the
raid as “probably one of the highest risk operations†in which he had ever
participated. There were concerns that
the Bakery “might have been fortified, meaning at the doors or windows; there
might have been extra security precautions put in to keep law enforcement out;
also high-powered weapons.â€
Police broke down the door to an
upstairs bedroom in the Bakery building and found Lewis and another individual
sitting on a couch. In the bedroom, they
found a loaded .22-caliber rifle, strips with cartridges attached for loading
an SKS rifle, and a nine-millimeter cartridge.
In a dresser drawer in a nearby closet, they found a banana clip
magazine for an AK-47 rifle, Lewis’s birth certificate, Fourth’s 2006 letter to
him, and a reversible mask with black and camouflage patterns and a Velcro
fastener.
Joshua was arrested the day of the
raid and gave a statement that day implicating himself, Fourth, Fifth, Halfin,
and Lewis in the kidnappings of Doe One and Two.
Officer Grant went to Santa Rita
jail the following day to obtain a saliva sample from Lewis, who was also
arrested in the raid. Grant testified
that he showed Lewis the search warrant for the DNA, but did not tell him the
subject of his investigation. Lewis backed
away and said, “no.†After overcoming
Lewis’s resistance, Grant and other officers pushed Lewis against a wall, handcuffed
him, and obtained the saliva sample. Lewis
was released from custody the next day.
Raheem was arrested in September for
the kidnappings of Doe One and Two. When
he was interviewed by Grant after his arrest and confronted with cell phone
records showing his whereabouts on the night of the kidnappings, he began
telling the truth about his involvement.
Lewis was arrested in October for
the kidnappings. Fourth, Fifth, Joshua,
and Halfin were charged along with Lewis.
Joshua entered into a plea agreement.
Joshua agreed to plead guilty to kidnapping and to testify truthfully against
Lewis, Fourth, and Halfin in exchange for a three-year prison sentence. He understood that if he proceeded to trial
he was facing a possible sentence of 25 years to life, or life without
possibility of parole. The cases against
Fourth and Halfin were severed, and Fifth became Lewis’s sole codefendant. Fifth entered into a plea agreement on June 19, 2009. Under the agreement, Fifth
was given a ten-year prison sentence in exchange for truthful testimony against
Lewis, and he was not required to testify against Fourth or Halfin. He also understood that he would have faced a
sentence of life without possibility of parole if convicted.
G. DNA Evidence
DNA was also obtained from Fourth, Fifth, Joshua, Halfin, and others. The DNA was compared with DNA found on
evidence obtained during the investigation to determine if the suspects could
be excluded as sources. Items tested
included the beanie found in the Chrysler, the soda can found in the Crown
Victoria, and the knife and a cigarette butt found in the house. Lewis could not be excluded as a source of
DNA on two areas of the knife, but the DNA mixtures in those areas were
“degraded†and “complex.†At least three
people contributed DNA to one of the areas, and at least four people
contributed DNA to the other. An
unidentified male was the major contributor to one of the areas. Thus, the testing did not prove that Lewis
was a contributor of the DNA, only that he was one of many possible
contributors. The criminalist who did
the testing described the results as “not significant†and entitled to “very
little weight†in identifying Lewis as a participant in the crimes.
H. Lewis’s Telephone Calls From Jail
Three of Lewis’s many telephone
calls from jail were introduced into evidence.
A week after his arrest Lewis talked
to his brother. In the conversation,
Lewis said: “Hey man, it’s just—most
likely I supposed to get off for a preliminary hearing. But if motherfucker babble, I will be in this
motherfucker. But if he don’t babble
then I’m getting out. . . . [¶] Then they talking
about they got DNA, my DNA at the crime scene.
Inconclusive DNA. You know what
that mean? . . . [¶] That means they can’t
prove that it’s mine, but they cannot not prove that it ain’t mines
neither. Ain’t that some retarded shit.â€
The brother then asked the following
questions, and Lewis gave the following answers: “[Q.]
They said it’s inconclusive?
[A.] Yeah, inconclusive means
that they can’t prove it’s mine but they can’t prove that it’s not mine either.
. . . [Q.] How did they just pick you
then? [A.] Somebody— I guess somebody gave a statement
implicating me in some shit I ain’t got nothing to do with. But they did that—whoever the person did
that, they let me go after he did that the first time. Then they got this little DNA shit back. Then it’s like, okay. [Q.]
Well they probably going to show they . . . cards on Monday then
huh? [A.] Yeah.
Show everything they got. So far
that’s all I know. They may have
more. That’s the dangerous side of
it. But if that’s all they got, then
hey, but if they got more than that, then it’s like oh shit. I got another fucking sit in this mother
fucker for a hella long ass situation all over again. My dumb ass.â€
The same day Fifth agreed to his
plea, Lewis (L.) had a conversation with his girlfriend (G.), saying: “[L.]
[T]he people tell me, you know, about [Fifth]. They tell me there is something crafty going
on. I don’t know. I’m kind of spooked. [G.] I
don’t understand. [L.] You remember what my biggest fear was? That’s what I’m worried about. . . .
[G.] Is there anything to worry about? [L.]
No . . . .â€
The next day, Lewis had another
conversation with his girlfriend, who told him that she had called his lawyer,
learned that Fifth had pleaded no contest, and that Lewis would be going to
trial as a sole defendant. Lewis
responded, “Mother fuck. Yeah man.†His girlfriend said, “It’s bad. You really need to do something.†Lewis said, “I mean I ain’t worried about
it. Still I mean, even if— you feel me—he
did it, don’t mean it’s all bad, just extra shit man.â€
I. Accomplice Testimony
(1)
Joshua’s Statements About the Kidnappings
(a) Trial Testimony
Joshua testified at trial that
Fourth spoke about using the Crown Victoria to stop and rob drug dealers. Fourth got information about Doe One’s
supplier, Tim Crawford, from another drug dealer named Johnny Antone. On May 16, Fourth told Joshua to go to a bar
on Seminary Avenue and look for a Mercedes and man in a white shirt and hat. Fourth instructed Joshua to call when they
saw the man, because they were going to rob him. Fourth later learned that the man they were
looking for was Crawford. Joshua drove
the Chrysler to the bar with Halfin, found the Mercedes, watched it for several
hours, and saw a light-skinned woman get inside. He reported this to Fourth, and Fourth told
him to return to the Bakery. Joshua
thought they had staked out the wrong car, so they did not follow the woman
when she drove away.
On the night of May 17, Fourth instructed
Joshua to go to a bingo parlor and watch a gold Pontiac. Fourth told him they were going to rob
someone of $30,000. Joshua drove the
Chrysler with Halfin to the parking lot of the bingo parlor. Fourth said that Antone would be there. Antone got into the Chrysler, pointed to the Pontiac, and said
they could rob a woman who would be driving it after she made stops to get
money. When Joshua related Antone’s
information, Fourth told him to follow the woman and said that he would be
following as well. Halfin agreed to
drive the Chrysler because Joshua did not know how to follow someone without
being detected. Joshua got into the back
seat and did not see an SKS rifle in the car.
Two women left the bingo parlor and
drove away in the Pontiac. Halfin followed the Pontiac onto the
freeway, while Joshua relayed their location to Fourth. The Crown Victoria passed the Chrysler and
got behind the Pontiac with its lights flashing.
The Pontiac, the Crown Victoria behind it, and the Chrysler behind the
Crown Victoria, pulled over and stopped on the shoulder of the road. Fifth and Lewis, wearing masks and hoods, got
out of the Crown Victoria. Their masks
were like the one found in Lewis’s room during the raid on the Bakery. Fifth put the driver of the Pontiac in the
backseat of the Crown Victoria. Lewis
went to the Chrysler, pulled the backseat forward, got an SKS rifle from the
trunk, ran to the Pontiac, and put the passenger from the Pontiac in the
backseat of the Crown Victoria.
Joshua never stated that Lewis
retrieved a rifle from the Chrysler until after Fifth entered into his plea
agreement. Joshua first mentioned this detail
on July 22,
2009, during one of his 15 or more
conversations with the prosecutor. He
did not tell Officer Grant about the gun in the Chrysler because he thought the
disclosure would make him appear to be more involved in the kidnappings.
Joshua testified that Fourth came to
the Chrysler and told him to drive the Pontiac. They drove the three cars to a house. Joshua got out of the Pontiac and went to
the Chrysler; Halfin got out of the Chrysler and went to the Crown Victoria. Joshua saw Fifth, Lewis, and a woman go into
the house, where Fourth was waiting inside. Ten to 20 minutes later, Fourth came out of the house and asked Joshua
for the keys to the Pontiac.
Joshua went inside with Fourth and
saw the woman, seated and “sniffling,†with Fifth and Lewis standing beside
her, still wearing their masks. Joshua saw
the sheath for a knife he thought belonged to Fourth on a windowsill. He had seen the knife in the Crown Victoria
and in Fourth’s room, but did not see it in the house. The woman was saying to call someone on a
cell phone about money. Fifth gave
Joshua a revolver and told him to watch the woman while the others went to
check out her house. Just then, they saw
the brake lights of a police car outside at a stop sign.
When the car started backing up the
perpetrators panicked and ran toward the back of the house. They went into the backyard through a door,
and a window broken open by Lewis, and jumped a fence into the next yard. Joshua lost his cell phone before jumping the
fence, but held on to the revolver. They
ran through the neighbor’s backyard past a loudly barking pit bull, and, as Joshua
hopped the next fence, he heard Lewis “screaming,†but “not really loud; just
like ‘Ah.’ †Joshua fled with Fifth and
Lewis through “a lot†of backyards, and Fifth hid the revolver in one of
them. Joshua and Fifth eventually split
up with Lewis when Fifth said he wanted to go to a main street and make a phone
call. Fifth called his girlfriend from a
gas station and she picked them up and drove them to the Bakery.
At the Bakery, Fourth asked Joshua
to pick Lewis up, and Joshua drove with Halfin in Raheem’s car to the location
where Fourth said Lewis was waiting.
They picked Lewis up in a residential neighborhood at a house Joshua did
not recognize. Lewis was limping, and
said he had hurt his ankle falling off a gate when he was bitten by a dog. They drove to another house Joshua did not
recognize, where Halfin retrieved the assault rifle Joshua had seen earlier
that night. They went back to the house
on Avenal to retrieve Joshua’s cell phone, but the police were still there so
they returned to the Bakery.
(b)
August 3 Statement and Preliminary Hearing Testimony
In the taped
portion of his statement to Officer Grant and another officer after his arrest
on the day the Bakery was raided, Joshua gave an account of the events of May
17 that was generally consistent with his trial testimony.
He described being in the Chrysler
with Halfin, following the women in the Pontiac, seeing Fourth pull the Pontiac
over, and watching Fifth and Lewis get out of the Crown Victoria and put the
Pontiac’s passengers into the Crown Victoria.
Someone had told Fourth that the women were carrying money. The three cars drove to an unfamiliar house,
and Fourth, Fifth, and Lewis took one of the women inside. Halfin waited outside in the Crown Victoria
with the other woman, and Joshua waited in the Chrysler, until Fourth came out
of the house and told him to watch the woman inside while the others went to
her house. He went into the house and
saw the woman sitting on a chair with a plastic bag over her head. He saw a police car, ran to the back of the
house, and went outside through a broken-out window. He followed Fifth, jumped fences, and lost
his cell phone. They went to a gas
station where Fifth called his girlfriend, who picked them up and took them
home.
Joshua told the officers that he was
too far away to see whether Fifth and Lewis had guns when they took the women
out of the Pontiac. He said that he saw a black
knife he did not recognize on a windowsill in the house. He did not mention that he was given a gun.
Joshua testified at trial that he
decided to become a witness during the preliminary hearing because he did not
want to serve a life sentence for something he did not plan. But because he wanted to help Fourth, Fifth, and
Lewis, he did not disclose everything he knew at the preliminary hearing. When he was talking with Fourth after their
arrests, Fourth said to blame the kidnappings on Antone and say they were
collecting a debt for him. Joshua admitted
that he lied in the preliminary hearing when he said that the kidnappings were
done to collect Antone’s debt and that the Bakery would only receive a
percentage of what was collected.
Joshua was impeached with other
parts of his preliminary hearing testimony.
At that hearing, he admitted seeing a gun in the house on Avenal, but
denied leaving the house with it. He
also claimed to be uncertain whether Fifth and Lewis were the ones who got out
of the Crown Victoria and abducted the women in the Pontiac. He was asked:
“[Q.] Was there anything else
that you told Grant when you spoke to him on August 3rd about this event,
anything else that you told him that you later on realized wasn’t true? [A.]
That I seen Fifth and Rich get out of the car.†At another point, he was asked: “[Q.] The
two people that got out of the car, as I understand your testimony previously,
you later learned those two people were Yusuf Bey, V and Richard Lewis; isn’t
that correct? [A.] I don’t know if it was them for sure. I never seen the face. [Q.]
Didn’t you run out of a window with these same people later on? [A.]
Yeah. [Q.] Okay.
And you saw them without a mask on, right? [A.]
Um, everybody kind of went their own way. When I was on the street, that’s when I seen
Fifth and Richard. [Q.] And they didn’t have masks on, did they? [A.]
No. [¶] . . . [¶] [Q.] Were
they wearing the same clothes as the two people that got out of the car? [A.]
Um, no.â€
(2)
Fifth’s Testimony About the Kidnappings
Fifth testified that, before the night
of May 17, he and Fourth waited in the Crown Victoria by a bar near Seminary
for Crawford, a drug dealer identified by Antone, who would be wearing all
white. Fourth and Fifth were not wearing
masks or carrying weapons. They were
only going to follow Crawford that night, but they were planning to later rob
him of $500,000.
On the night of May 17, Fourth drove
Fifth and Lewis to the bingo parlor in the Crown Victoria. Joshua was in the bingo parlor parking lot
watching the Pontiac. Fifth thought they were going there to rob Crawford. They had a one-foot long chrome revolver in
the front console of the car, which Fourth said they would be using that
night. Joshua called and said two people
were getting into the Pontiac. The Crown Victoria followed
the Chrysler and the Pontiac, pulled the Pontiac over, and stopped a couple of feet behind it. Fifth put on a mask, and Lewis tied a bandana
around his face. The bandana had a
pattern that might have been a Raiders logo. Lewis was not wearing a mask like the one
found in his room when police raided the Bakery.
Fifth took the revolver, opened the driver’s
door of the Pontiac, and released Doe One’s seat belt.
He thought that Doe One got out of the car by herself, but he may have
grabbed her arm.
title="">[2] The car was in drive and rolling, so he got
in and put the car in park. Lewis was
standing in front of the Crown Victoria holding a rifle at his waist, pointing
it at the Pontiac. The rifle had an ammunition
clip like those used in an AK or SKS. Lewis
told Doe One to come to him, she obeyed, and they got into the backseat of the
Crown Victoria. Fifth went to the
passenger side of the Pontiac, opened the door, and Doe Two asked him not to leave her. Doe Two also got out of the Pontiac and into
the backseat of the Crown Victoria.
Fifth got into the front passenger seat of the Crown Victoria, while
Lewis sat with the rifle in the backseat between Does One and Two. Fourth took a purse out of the Pontiac, and told
Joshua to drive that car. Lewis put a
garbage bag over Doe One’s head, and a jacket over Doe Two’s head. Doe One was handcuffed, but Fifth did not see
how that happened.
They drove to a house in a
residential area, and Fourth told Fifth to take Doe One inside. Fifth led Doe One, still handcuffed and wearing
the bag over her head, into the house, where they were joined by Fourth and
Lewis. They put her on a chair in the
kitchen, Fourth asked her if she knew Tim, and she said, “No.†After about five or ten minutes, Fourth told
Fifth to get Doe One’s phone. Fifth went
to the Crown Victoria, where Halfin was waiting with the rifle Lewis had been
holding and Doe Two was sitting in the backseat, and he found two phones inside
Doe One’s purse. Inside the purse he
also found a smaller purse full of white rocks, and a pouch with
marijuana. Finding the drugs made Fifth
angry. He testified that he would not
have participated in the crimes if he had known they were going to rob a woman,
but that he no longer felt sorry for Doe One when he saw that she was a drug
dealer. Fifth saw Joshua outside,
stealing DVDs from the trunk of the Pontiac.
Fifth took the phones to Fourth and
Fourth found Crawford’s phone number. Because
Doe One kept lying, Fifth hit her once on the head with the handle of the revolver,
knocking her out for a minute. When
Lewis threatened to put a hot curling iron up her vagina, Doe One admitted
knowing Crawford. She said she had
$30,000 at her house, and Fourth decided they should go there. Fourth went outside and brought Joshua into
the house to watch Doe One while they went to her home. Joshua brought a sheathed knife into the
house, put the knife on a counter, and put the case on a windowsill. Fifth did not see anyone use the knife on Doe
One. Fifth gave Joshua the revolver, and
Fourth, who was looking out the window, started running.
Fifth
saw a police car and ran outside through a back door. Fourth, Joshua, and Lewis were jumping the
fence outside, but Fifth hesitated when he saw a pit bull and another dog on
the other side. The pit bull bit Lewis
and pulled him off the fence. Lewis fell
to the ground. Fifth jumped the fence
while the pit bull was biting Lewis.
Fifth, Joshua, and Lewis jumped more fences and ran through many backyards. Fifth took the revolver from Joshua and hid
it in one of the yards. They went out to
a street, saw police cars, and jumped more fences. Fifth, Joshua, and Lewis went out again to a
street, Lewis turned when a police car drove by, and Fifth lost sight of him. Fifth and Joshua went to a pay phone where Fifth
called Carrasco, and she gave them a ride to the Bakery.
(3)
Other Subjects
Joshua and Fifth testified about more
than the kidnappings, including some of the background about the Bakery and its
financial problems. Joshua said that
Lewis baked and did security for the Bakery, and appeared to be close to
Fourth. In the last few months before
the Bakery was raided, security for the Bakery’s property was handled by Lewis,
Devaughndre Broussard, and Antoine Mackey.
Lewis went to Sacramento after he was released from jail in San Francisco, and Fifth
recounted how Fourth went there to get him with an entourage of four vehicles
flying star-and-crescent flags. Fifth
said that Fourth spent more time with Lewis than anyone else, and that Lewis
“just kind of [rode] around with Fourth all the time.†Fifth said that Fourth “did that with
everybody at first.†Fourth knew that he
was “not going to pay them so he try to make them feel special, you know,
you’re my buddy; to get him comfortable.†Fourth was not being entirely honest, and
Lewis “seemed to fall for it.â€
Joshua testified that handguns and
assault rifles were kept “[a]ll over†the Bakery for security and protection. Joshua and Fifth said the rifles included
AKs, an SKS, an AR-15, and possibly an M16. Fifth said that the Bakery also had shotguns,
and that its handguns included semiautomatic pistols. Fifth said he probably fired all of the
Bakery’s guns, including shots from the roof of the Bakery on New Year’s and
the 4th of July. He said that “all
kind[s]†of guns were fired off the roof, and Joshua said he had seen lots of
expended casings on the roof.
Fifth went to jail in June 2007 to
serve a sentence for felony possession of a TEC-9 assault handgun. He was arrested for the offense at a
Walgreens in January 2007, where Fourth was shoplifting.
J. Other Crimes Evidence
In addition to learning that Fourth
had shoplifted and Fifth had unlawfully carried an assault weapon, the jury heard
that Bakery members including Fourth, Halfin, and Raheem had vandalized a
liquor store, and that Raheem had been convicted of hate crimes and criminal
threats in connection with that case.
The jury also learned of other crimes committed, or allegedly committed,
by Bakery members.
The most detailed testimony came
from Officer Gysin, who testified to encounters between the Bakery and the
police before the May 17 kidnappings.
Gysin said that he responded to calls involving the Bakery “quite a
bit,†and had multiple contacts with Fourth.
In one instance, for example, he heard shots behind the Bakery building
and saw Fourth across the street laughing.
Gysin said that the Oakland Police Department’s practice was to have a
cover unit for officer safety anytime an officer was dispatched to the Bakery.
Gysin first went to the Bakery in
response to a complaint about barking dogs.
He went through a gate into a parking lot behind the Bakery building and
was surrounded by ten Bakery members who called him “the white devil†and told
him to leave. He had previously heard
about members attacking officers, felt threatened, and backed toward the
gate. When he closed the gate, Fourth
came on the scene, and he asked Fourth for documentation for the dogs. Fourth refused and also called him “the white
devil.†Fourth said that he owned the
dogs, and Gysin obtained Fourth’s identification, intending to cite him for
failing to register the dogs. Gysin
checked the identification with dispatch, and was informed that there were
warrants for Fourth’s arrest. When Gysin
returned to the gate, ten to 15 Bakery members had formed a wall blocking it
and Fourth was gone. Fifth told Gysin
that Fourth was not coming out. Gysin
had two other officers with him, and they did not attempt to take Fourth into
custody because they were outnumbered.
In another incident, Gysin and at
least ten other officers went to the Bakery in response to a report involving a
restraining order and a man in the Bakery holding a woman there against her
will. The officers approached the Bakery
after assembling at a staging area a number of blocks away. As they approached, two Bakery members
chained and blocked the front door to the Bakery’s public store at 5832 San Pablo, and 15
to 25 other members arrived and lined up shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the
door. The officers were told that the person
responsible for the false imprisonment would be taken to the staging area, but
after the officers returned there they were informed that the suspect would not
be released.
In Joshua’s direct examination, the
prosecutor brought out that, during their many meetings about the case, they
had discussed crimes other than those charged against Lewis: “Q.
Have I brought up with you other crimes, asked you question[s] about
what you know about other criminal activity?
A. Yes. Q.
Have I asked you questions about the Chauncey Bailey murder? A.
Yes. Q. About a couple of other murders as well? A.
Yes. Q. About shooting up Cameron’s car? A.
Yes. Q. Have there been times, Joshua, when I’ve told
you that I didn’t think you were being completely honest with me? A.
Yes.â€
Details about the shooting of the car
were elicited in Fifth’s direct examination.
In December 2006, Fifth and others shot up Cameron Cook’s car with guns
that included an SKS rifle and a shotgun.
They did so on Fourth’s orders because Cook had shot at the Bakery. Fifth stopped shooting when the others ran
out of ammunition. No one was in the
car, but they did not check whether the car was occupied before the shooting.
In other questioning, the
prosecution elicited evidence of the Bakery’s suspected involvement in the
murders of Bailey and others. Raheem testified
that, after the Bakery raid, he heard that Fourth had ordered Bailey’s killing
because Fourth did not like what Bailey intended to write. By the time he was arrested in this case, Raheem
had heard in the news that Broussard admitted he killed Bailey. Raheem thought that Broussard “got the short
end of the stick†because of reports that Fourth had “ordered him to take the
fall for it.†Joshua testified that,
when he and Fourth spoke by phone in jail after the preliminary hearing, he
knew that Fourth and Mackey had been indicted for three murders. Grant testified that police were
investigating three homicides, as well as the kidnappings in this case, when
they raided the Bakery.
K. Defense Case
Lewis was the sole defense witness. He testified that he was not involved in the crimes,
and was probably at the Bakery on the night they occurred.
Lewis testified that he spent four
or five days with his brother in San Francisco, and two or three days with his
father in Sacramento, after being released from jail on May 2, 2007, so that he
was only involved with the Bakery for about a week before the kidnappings. When Fourth came with four or five black
sedans to pick him up in Sacramento, his impression was that Fourth “thought he was the president.â€
Lewis said that at 6:00 a.m. on the day before he went to the hospital for treatment of his
ankle, he was asked to get the keys to a bus at the Bakery. Joshua had testified that dogs at the Bakery
could escape from their kennels, and Lewis said he was frightened by a dog
barking in the bus. He hurt his ankle
running off the bus. He told the doctor
that he fell off a bus, not a set of stairs.
Lewis said that Fifth gave him the
fake driver’s license Officer Gysin found on June 2 with the name “Rakeem Khalil
Bey†because he needed identification to get into an adults-only club.
Lewis did not handcuff the woman who
was creating a disturbance at the Bakery on July 17. The officer who took his statement to the
contrary was mistaken.
He did not possess the rifle and
ammunition in his room when the Bakery was raided. The police planted the rifle and ammunition
there.
The warrant in evidence for
obtaining his DNA listed the names “Richard Lewis†and “Rakeem Khalil Bey,†but
Lewis said that the warrant Grant showed him had only his false Muslim name, so
he resisted giving the saliva sample.
In his October 2007 telephone
conversation after his arrest, he was referring to Joshua when he said, “if
motherfucker babble, I will be in this motherfucker.†He acknowledged saying, “They may have
more. That’s the dangerous side of it. . . . [I]f they got more . . . then it’s like oh
shit. I got another fucking sit in this
mother fucker for a hella long ass situation all over again. My dumb ass.â€
He said that because “I been in the judicial system before, and I know
that when they pile up stuff like all these different statements from one
individual to inconclusive DNA that doesn’t hold no weight, you could be
sitting in jail for a long time.†“My
dumb ass†referred to police harassment in jail, not the charges against him.
Lewis
was cross-examined about his relationship with Broussard. He said that Broussard was his cousin, and
they were incarcerated together for a short time after Fourth was released from
San Francisco County jail. Lewis told Broussard
about the Bakery because Broussard was tired of selling drugs, and Fourth was
offering jobs. After Broussard was
released from jail, Lewis sent him to the Bakery because he “thought maybe he
could go somewhere in a positive atmosphere.â€
L. Jury Arguments
The prosecution made a lengthy
opening statement, focused primarily on the events of May 17. Before turning to the circumstances of the
crimes, the prosecutor said, “Now this
case is not about the bakery. This case
is not about religion, this case is not about a belief system. [¶] This case fundamentally is about
crime. Criminality. What people do when they’re desperate for
money . . . .†The prosecutor said
Officer Gysin would testify to a June 2 incident when he found Lewis in
possession of a driver’s license with the name “Rakeem Khalil Bey.†Gysin would also testify to other “less than
friendly contacts†with Bakery members, and the police policy of “avoid[ing]
confrontation†with Bakery members “for officer safety reasons.†The prosecutor said that the Bakery was
raided the day after Chauncey Bailey was killed, and that the police were
investigating a couple of murders as well as this case. He described the raid as “analogous to . . .
the U.S. military storming some terrorist stronghold.â€
In his opening statement, defense
counsel argued that no evidence tied Lewis to the crimes apart from dubious accomplice
testimony, and that the other evidence merely linked Lewis with the
Bakery. He called the prosecution case a
“vigorous attempt to paint Mr. Lewis with the brush of guilt by association. . . . That’s
why you heard all this stuff about the [Bakery], and I don’t contest that. Won’t dispute for a moment.â€
The prosecutor began his closing
arguments by saying that the case was not about religion, or, “[f]undamentally
. . . even really a case about Your Black Muslim Bakery . . . .†The “scenario . . . that played out in this
case could have played out in any group, whether religious or otherwise. This case is about a quest of one man to gain
power and control, whatever the cost. .
. . [T]his case is about a man, Richard
Lewis, willing to do anything to prove himself worthy of a criminal
organization that he was too blind to see was already in the process of
dying.â€
The prosecutor said that the “only
real question†was whether Lewis was a participant in the crimes, and argued
that the jury should accept Fifth’s version of the events. Fifth’s testimony was believable for a number
of reasons, including his displeasure at having to answer questions about the
shooting of Cook’s car. Fifth “did not want
to discuss a previous event wherein his brother had ordered him to carry out a
shooting along with some other folks for the purposes of revenge,†but he answered
questions about it because he knew that his plea agreement required truthful
testimony in the case.
The prosecutor argued, consistent
with Fifth’s testimony, that Fifth came to Doe One’s car door, even though he
was not a short man like the one she described. Lewis was the short man Doe One saw, pointing
a rifle at her and calling her over to the Crown Victoria, and she became
“fixated on that image.†Lewis was the
one who handcuffed Doe One, even though she said that she was handcuffed by the
man in the front passenger seat of the Crown Victoria (Fifth), rather than the
man with her in the backseat (Lewis).
The multiple blows Doe One received were applied by Fourth or Lewis,
“more likely just Lewis,†while Fifth was outside the house getting her phones.
When the argument turned to corroboration
of the accomplice testimony, the prosecutor said, “Let’s talk about the
corroboration in this case that exists independent of the testimony of . . .
Joshua and Fifth. [¶] Crime is perpetrated by members of Your Black
Muslim Bakery. . . . †The prosecutor
argued that corroboration included Lewis’s sitting before Fourth as security
when Fourth preached on July 29. He
added: “July 29th, important day, four
days later, Chauncey Bailey got blown away.
Five days later the bakery got raided.â€
The prosecutor concluded his initial
closing argument by calling Lewis, Broussard, and Mackey “new elements in the
bakery that Fourth sought and that he obtained.
Genuine, 100 percent authentic gangsters, tough guys, prepared to do
anything without question.†Joshua had
testified that Mackey, like Lewis and Broussard, was from San Francisco. The prosecutor said that the Bakery was “torn
down by gangsters from San
Francisco.†“You get guys like Lewis on the scene and
within a very short period of time everything is destroyed. Chauncey Bailey gets killed August 2nd. August 3rd the place is raided in connection
to that case, and three murders; and it all ends.â€
At the outset of his closing
argument, defense counsel responded that although the prosecutor claimed the
case was not about the Bakery, “he’s spent a major portion of the time . . . talking
about Your Black Muslim Bakery, talking about how Richard Lewis in his version
somehow seems to have been a major player there and that that somehow connects
Richard Lewis to a particular series of events which occurred on the 17th of
May of the year 2007. [¶] As I told
you in my opening remarks . . . at the
beginning of the trial, much of this case is nothing more than an intent to
paint Richard Lewis with the brush of guilt by association. [¶] [The
prosecutor] just told you . . . you can only consider evidence presented in
this courtroom. You’ve heard no evidence
about three murders. You’ve heard no
evidence about what did or didn’t happen to Mr. Chauncey Bailey. There’s no allegation anywhere that Mr. Lewis
had anything to do with those ideas. And
yet they’re brought in here.â€
Defense counsel continued: “And what is the purpose of that? The purpose of that is to put somehow in the
back of your minds the idea that there’s a horrible mess out there and that you
have to make a statement to do something about it. But I . . . know that you are very
intelligent people, and I know that you know how to understand the law and how
you will understand the judge’s instructions and that you will limit your
consideration to the facts in this case, to the evidence that was presented
here in this courtroom.â€
Counsel proceeded to highlight
inconsistencies in the prosecution witnesses’ testimony, and argue that Joshua
and Fifth were lying to “sav[e] their own skins.â€
M. Jury Deliberations
Evidence and arguments were
presented over the course of 16 court days, and the jury deliberated a little
over two days before rendering its verdicts.
A. Corroboration of Accomplice Testimony
Lewis contends that Joshua and
Fifth’s testimony should not have been admitted because it was
uncorroborated. (Pen. Code, § 1111
[a conviction cannot be based upon the testimony of an accomplice unless the
testimony is “corroborated by such other evidence as shall tend to connect the
defendant with the commission of the offenseâ€].) After the People rested, Lewis unsuccessfully
moved for acquittal (Pen. Code, § 1118.1) based on this claimed lack of
corroboration.
“The corroborating evidence may be
slight and entitled to little consideration when standing alone. However, it must tend to implicate the
defendant by relating to an act that is an element of the crime. It need not by itself establish every element,
but must, without aid from the accomplice’s testimony, tend to connect the
defendant with the offense.†(
218.) The jury was instructed consistent
with these principles pursuant to CALCRIM No. 335.
The sufficiency of corroboration of
accomplice testimony is generally an issue of fact. “The trier of fact’s determination on the
issue of corroboration is binding on review unless the corroborating evidence
should not have been admitted or does not reasonably tend to connect the
defendant with the commission of the crime.â€
(People v. Nelson, supra, 51
Cal.4th at p. 218.) “It is not the duty
of the reviewing court in accomplice cases to weigh the corroborative evidence to
determine whether it meets the requirements of the statute. An appellate court does not determine
‘whether the corroborating evidence, by itself, is as compatible with innocence
as it is with guilt. That is a question
for the trier of fact. All that the
appellate court does is to determine whether there is any substantial
corroborative evidence, and whether, when error is found, the error committed
has led to the verdict reached.’
[Citations.]†(3 Witkin, Cal. Evidence (5th
ed. 2012) Presentation at Trial, § 116, p. 178 (Witkin).) “The great majority of the cases find the
corroboration adequate†(id., § 117,
p. 178), and Lewis’s case is not one of the rare exceptions.
However, the issue here is relatively
close. Most of the evidence the People identify
does not qualify as corroboration. Lewis
sought treatment for an ankle injury shortly after the crimes were committed,
but that evidence had no probative value apart from Joshua’s and Fifth’s
testimony because they were the only ones who testified to the dog attack that would
connect the injury to the crimes. Tests
did not exclude Lewis as a possible source among others of DNA on a knife at
the scene, but the prosecution’s expert admitted that the results were too
general to show that Lewis was involved in the crimes. Bakery members’ access to assault rifles and
ammunition is cited as giving Lewis an opportunity to commit the crimes, but
Joshua and Fifth were the only ones who testified to the type of gun Lewis
allegedly used. Lewis had access to
handcuffs at the Bakery, and used them after the crimes were committed to handcuff
a woman who was creating a disturbance, but neither of those facts had any
significant probative value as accomplice corroboration or evidence of guilt.
The People note that Lewis lied
about having identification during the June 2nd investigation of the illegally
parked school bus. (In re B.D. (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 975, 985 [“ ‘[f]alse or
misleading statements to authorities may constitute corroborating evidence’ â€].) But the most plausible reason for the lie is
that he was carrying a fake driver’s license.
Since he did not try to hide his identity and gave the officer his
correct name, as well as his date of birth, there is no reason to believe that
he lied about the identification to cover up involvement in the charged
crimes. Documents listing the names “Kaiâ€
and “Rakeem Khalil Bey,†the name on the fake driver’s license, were found in
the Chrysler involved in the crimes, but given all of the other property
associated with the Bakery in the car, those documents merely showed that Lewis
was a Bakery member.
The People contend that Baker
| Description | Yusuf Bey V (Fifth) and Joshua Bey (Joshua), members of Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland, admitted involvement with others in crimes against Jane Doe One and Jane Doe Two, including carjacking, kidnapping, and torture, on the night of May 17, 2007. Fifth and Joshua identified defendant Richard Lewis, a short-term Bakery member, as a participant in the crimes, and they were the principal prosecution witnesses against Lewis at his jury trial. Lewis was convicted by the jury of carjacking (Pen. Code, § 215, subd. (a)) and kidnapping (Pen. Code, § 207, subd. (a)) Doe Two, and of the following offenses against Doe One: carjacking (Pen. Code, § 215, subd. (a)); kidnapping for extortion with bodily harm (Pen. Code, § 209, subd. (a)); kidnapping for robbery (Pen. Code, § 209, subd. (b)(1)); and torture (Pen. Code, § 206). The jury found true allegations that Lewis committed all of the offenses while armed with a firearm. (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (a)(1).) He was sentenced to: life without the possibility of parole, plus one year for the firearm allegation, for kidnapping Doe One for extortion; a consecutive term of life, plus one year, for torturing Doe One; and a consecutive term of eight years for kidnapping Doe Two. |
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