Jury begins deliberations in Bailey murder trial

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The murder trial for slain journalist Chauncey Bailey is now in the hands of an Oakland jury.

Prosecutor Melissa Krum rested her case after telling the jury former Your Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV and bakery associate Antoine Mackey "are guilty as charged." In her closing arguments, Krum said Bey ordered the hit on Bailey in 2007 because "the pressure cooker is at that point explosive" at the bakery. At that time, Bey had learned his brother-in-law was the primary source in a story Bailey planned to publish about the bakery's financial troubles.

Krum said the story would have been "an expose of the bakery and its decline and defendant Bey's criminal history. That's why it became this pressure cooker moment." "He was an inept leader," Krum said of Bey. "He was ill-equipped to handle his business and he made lots of really stupid decisions."

An attorney for Mackey, the alleged getaway driver, called for a mistrial, saying Krum made "inflammatory, improper" statements when she showed the jury photos of convicted murderers Scott Peterson and Ted Bundy. But Judge Thomas Reardon tossed out the request. He told the lawyers the prosecutor showed the photos as a way to demonstrate that a murderer can appear handsome or charming and still commit a crime. Mackey's attorney had argued he did not have the demeanor of a killer.

Bey and Mackey are charged with the murders of Bailey and two other men. Bey is also charged with shooting at an unoccupied car and Mackey is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. They both face life in prison.

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oakland, crime, trials, east bay news, cecilia vega

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