Report from The Chauncey Bailey Project, of which the Guardian is a member:
By Thomas Peele, The Chauncey Bailey Project
OAKLAND — Defense attorneys on Tuesday continued their assault on the credibility of the prosecution’s star witness in the Chauncey Bailey murder trial, delving into his background at Your Black Muslim Bakery and focusing on past crimes the man admitted to.
Defense attorney Gene Peretti questioned Devaughndre Broussard for a little less than 90 minutes, asking him about past instances when he left the bakery, where he worked as a handyman.
Broussard said he left the bakery twice because he wasn’t getting paid. He also testified that bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV made death threats against bakery members over complaints about their performance in a security business the bakery also ran.
Broussard, 23, is the key witness against Bey IV and another bakery member, Antoine Mackey, who are facing murder charges in connection with the death of Oakland Post editor Bailey and two other men in summer 2007. Broussard admitted to killing Bailey and one other man, Odell Roberson, and said Bey IV ordered the hits; Mackey is accused of helping in those two deaths, and also with killing another man, Michael Wills.
Bey IV and Mackey, both 25, have pleaded not guilty.
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In morning testimony, Peretti, who is representing Bey IV, asked Broussard about a 42-inch flat screen television set that came to be in his possession several years ago.
Asked how he obtained the TV, Broussard laughed, and said, “I stole that from Home Depot.”
“Didn’t you steal that from Mr. Bey?” Peretti countered. Broussard denied he had taken it from the bakery leader.
Broussard is expected to remain on the stand all day Tuesday.
Contact investigative reporter Thomas Peele at tpeele@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/thomas_peele.