Jury convicts at murdered journalist trial
BAY AREA - The jury decided in the Chauncey Bailey murder trial reached its verdicts Thursday. The group of seven-woman and five-man found Yusef Bey IV guilty on all counts...
The jury decided in the Chauncey Bailey murder trial reached its verdicts Thursday. The group of seven-woman and five-man found Yusef Bey IV guilty on all counts.
They also found Antoine Machey guilty on all but one count where they declared a deadlock.
Yusef Bey IV and Antoine Machey are accused of orchestrating the killing of the Oakland journalist.
The jury began deliberating on May 23.
The jury found two men guilty of first-degree murder in the 2007 homicide.
Bey was also found guilty in the deaths of two other men, Odell Roberson and Michael Wills. Mackey was found guilty in Wills’ death, but the jury was hung on the count involving Roberson’s death.
Following the verdict Deputy District Attorney Melissa Krum said, “I am incredibly proud of how hard this jury worked to arrive at all the verdicts in this voluminous case and am very pleased with the outcome.”
“With today’s verdicts, justice was served, and we hope that the outcome will provide some closure to the families of the victims murdered by defendants Mackey and Bey. These verdicts also stand for our abiding conviction that violence against the free voice of the press will not be tolerated in our society,” District Attorney Nancy E. O’Malley added.
During the lengthy trial, prosecutors tried to prove the founder of the now-defunct Your Black Muslim bakery and his associate Machey plotted to kill Bailey because he was writing an article about the bakery’s finances.
Under a plea deal, Devaughndre Broussard admitted to being the gunman who killed Bailey. Broussard testified at trial that Bey and Machey ordered Bailey to be killed to stop him from publishing the story.
The defense tried to convince the jury that Broussard was lying about the Bey and Machey’s involvement.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy E. O’Malley announced the findings as follows:
•Count 1; both defendants: 1st degree Murder of Chauncey Bailey (8/2/07) and arming clauses for both defendants.
•Count 2; Both defendants: 1st degree Murder of Michael Wills (7/12/07)with an arming clause for Bey and personal use of a firearm for Mackey.
•Count 3; Defendant Mackey: Felon in possession of firearm for the 7/12/07 murder weapon.
•Count 4; Yusef Bey only: 1st degree Murder of Odell Roberson (7/8/07) and an arming clause.
•As to Defendant Mackey, a mistrial was declared after a hung jury as to this count only.
•Count 5; Defendant Bey: Shooting at an unoccupied vehicle belonging to Cameren Cook (12/7/06) and an arming clause.
The DA’s office also released the following background details:
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