Bakery leaders and followers in court
Avenal Ave. house in East Oakland where prosecutors say a woman was tortured in 2007. (File photo/2007/Oakland Tribune)
Avenal Ave. house in East Oakland where prosecutors say a woman was tortured in 2007. (File photo/2007/Oakland Tribune)
By Thomas Peele, The Chauncey Bailey Project
OAKLAND — Former Your Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV and three of his followers appeared briefly in Superior Court on Monday afternoon as the kidnapping and torture charges against them — dismissed last week by a judge — began anew.
Bey IV, 23; his half-brother Yusuf Bey V, 22; Tamon Halfin, 22; and Richard Lewis, 25, all waived arraignment before Judge Robert McGuiness.
All four are scheduled to appear again Wednesday when their lawyers from the last case are expected to be reappointed and pleas are to be entered.
Alameda County Judge Thomas Reardon threw out the original 2007 charges Friday on legal technicalities. He ruled that a preliminary hearing that stretched out for months last year because of scheduling issues was conducted improperly.
After that hearing, visiting Humboldt County Judge Eric Labowitz ruled enough evidence existed to try the men, a point now moot.
The four defendants and another man, Joshua Bey, are charged with using a fake police cruiser to pull over a mother and daughter on Interstate 580 and taking them to a house in East Oakland. The daughter was allegedly taken into a house, tortured and threatened with a hot curling iron when a police officer rescued her.
Anne Belles, the attorney who represented Bey IV on the earlier charges, said she believes he is constitutionally entitled to bail, but is unsure whether she will make a motion for it Wednesday. “I haven’t been appointed yet,” she said.
Also at issue is where another preliminary hearing will be conducted and how quickly.
Lewis’ attorney, Patrick Hetrick said he was not willing to waive the requirement that another preliminary hearing be conducted within 10 days. “The other attorneys don’t want to do that,” he said.
Bey IV is suspected of involvement in the August 2007 killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey, but remains uncharged. The trial of another of his followers, Devaughndre Broussard, the only person charged in Bailey’s killing, is scheduled to begin next month.
Independent journalist Bob Butler of The Chauncey Bailey Project contributed to this story. Reach Thomas Peele at tpeele@bay areanewsgroup.com.
Slideshow: Michael J. Wills Jr.
A Day Late in Oakland
Evidence Ignored: A Timeline
Chauncey Bailey: life and work
Bailey killing figure had troubled youth
Secret video raises questions about bakery leader’s role in Bailey killing
Unsolved 1986 slaying of baker linked to founder of Your Black Muslim Bakery
Women, Part II: Testimony reveals a life of abuse, toil for women of Your Black Muslim Bakery
Women, Part I: One police officer cracked abuse case against Yusuf Bey
Nedir Bey evades trouble over election finances
Were Oakland police afraid of Black Muslim bakery?
Muslim bakery family linked to real estate broker accused of fraud
It’s awfully sad to hear that our society has stoop to this level where they place themselves to
fear these hoodlums who take over our streets and cities. But until we as a human race and a society can get together with some unity and most importantly love we as apeople will infact
continue to die brutally. Not just us but our babies also. Tell me people when and where will you decide to take a stand for God, yourself and most importantly your children’s future. I don’t know about you but I’am damn dog tired of this madness that we continue to have to be subjected to every single day. It’s like we’re ammune to devilish behavior. Just stand up God will protect you people you need not fear. I truly hope someone is out there listening because
it would be a damn shame to feel this way alone. Especially after I lost two sons to these damn coward ass bullies who can’t learn to fight with their hands and have to shoot someone
in order that they may feel or seem to be hard or badasses. When in reality their just coward as punks with weapons. People I plead with you to come forward do the right thing and speak up when you need to other wise someday it could be you as the next victim or your child.