Yusuf Bey IV (Oakland Police Department)

Yusuf Bey IV (Oakland Police Department)

By Paul T. Rosynsky, The Chauncey Bailey Project

OAKLAND – On the same day Yusuf Bey IV was indicted by a criminal grand jury for three murders, the leader of the now-defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery also learned that he will have to stand trial on charges of kidnapping two women and torturing one of them.

Bey IV is accused of six separate felonies in the case, which stems from a 2007 incident in which Bey IV and four other bakery members allegedly used a fake police cruiser to capture two women in hopes of stealing cash.

“There is sufficient cause to believe these crimes have been committed,” Alameda County Superior Court Judge Joseph Hurley ruled.

It was the second time Bey IV, 22, was ordered to stand trial on charges of kidnapping and torture, for which he could spend the rest of his life in prison. Prosecutors had to present a second preliminary case against Bey IV after a different judge ruled earlier this month that certain rights of defendants during the first preliminary hearing were violated.

That ruling resulted in the kidnapping and torture case beginning from the start, forcing the Alameda County District Attorney to re-file charges against Bey IV and others and hold a second preliminary hearing.

The other defendants, Tamon Halfin, 22, Yusuf Bey V, 23, and Richard Lewis, 25, all waived their right to a second preliminary hearing and will proceed directly to a jury trial which is scheduled to being next month. Although Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Scott Patton had to essentially present evidence against Bey IV as if the first preliminary hearing never occurred, he choose to streamline the case.

Unlike the first preliminary hearing, which took several weeks and included numerous witnesses, Patton offered only one live witness during the two-day long second preliminary hearing. He also offered as evidence two taped statements, a DVD recording of Bey and other bakery members talking about the crimes, and medical records for the woman who was tortured.

Patton also did not call Joshua Bey, 21, as a witness in the second preliminary hearing, choosing instead to use a taped confession Joshua Bey gave to police. Joshua Bey was a surprise witnesses during the first preliminary hearing after he secretly agreed to a plea deal in exchange for his testimony against Bey IV and other bakery members.

However, Anne Beles, the court-appointed attorney representing Bey IV, wanted Joshua Bey to be called. Beles said she has the right the question the witness to point out inaccuracies in his statements and prove that some of his testimony shows that her client should not be charged in some of the crimes.

Hurley denied the request, saying that Beles could use the transcript from the first preliminary hearing to show where Joshua Bey’s testimony proved that her client was not properly charged.

Hurley also found that Bey IV should be held without bail while he awaits trial.

“This is an obvious situation where your client deserves no bail,” Hurley said. “Mr. Bey is a clearly a danger to society.”