Guide to Surviving a Court Encounter With a Murderer

1. Do not make eye contact. The accused MAY smile at you creepily.
2. Sit in the back of the court room.
3. Do not wait around after while the accused changes back into his orange jumpsuit.
4. Do not agree to look at the autopsy pictures of the victim/s.
5. Do not attend the trial.

Unfortunately if you follow this list, you are a terrible journalist and you don't have the 'stuff ' required to write a detailed story.



Seriously a life-changing experience. The District Attorney, Melissa Krum, was incredibly warm and helpful and eagerly answered all of my questions. Woman had some serious spunk. She talked about how she often has problems at restaurants because she discusses trials with autopsy pictures on the table.


By the way, the autopsy pictures of Chauncy Bailey.. chilling. Krum pointed at the entrance and exit wounds that the bullet made. Krum was walking me through it because I told her I had a morbid fascination, "This is where the bullet fragmented his skull, which is why it's concave. The soft tissue and brain matter just..." Yeah you get the idea.

She did decline to make a statement, which I do understand.

I was glad that I went with Katherine, Kealan, and Nelson -- if anything we are excellent at sitting awkwardly in the hallway of a courthouse and making funny noises.

We are obviously serious journalists.


And here are some more pictures:

SoMa Crime Map

There are about 40-60 crimes daily in the South of Market area, which lies between Embarcadero to Eleventh Street and Market to Townsend.  Many of the crimes occur in the same areas.  This crime map shows where reported crime happened in SoMa on Sunday, April 17, 2011.  Its very similar to the CrimeMapping.com map, only that if you click on the little orange guy on top of the zoom bar, you can see the street view.


View SoMa Crime Map in a larger map


There is no significance about the crime on this day, only that it was the most recent available.

Chauncey Bailey Case and the Haunting Smile

So- Lisa, Katherine and I went to Oakland today to attend the third day of the Chauncey Bailey case. Today was a great day to attend, but I'm still figuring out how I feel about it.

A lot happened today, and I wish I could put my life on hold for the rest of this trial because I am so intrigued. Firstly, Joseph Bey testified, which made for an interesting dynamic, as his brother Yusuf Bey was one of the two defendants. The second witness was an Oakland police officer who found the kidnapping hide out used by (supposedly) the Bey brothers. His testimony was somewhat graphic, and already I found myself having a hard time detaching from the story. The last witness whose testimony got cut short was the ex-girlfriend of Yusuf Bey who witnessed his gun being used at a San Francisco night club.

The three of us were quick to chat up the prosecuting attorney, the defense lawyers, and other spectators. All in all, it was a great day, incredibly interesting and exciting.

My dilemma? I briefly mentioned my innate inability to detach from the victims as testimonies were told. As the prosecuting attorney showed pictures of Bailey after he was shot, my heart sank. It was truly a surreal experience sitting just feet away from men I believe to be involved in such cruelty. I couldn't help asking myself: "Where's the humanity?"

It was even hard to keep my temper down. Especially when one of the defendants, Antoine Mackey, smiled at me as he was led out of the courtroom--chills, people, chills. And not the good kind. I couldn't shake the image the whole way home.

I know journalism is the right move for me. I just hope I can learn to detach without becoming cold to compassion.

Crime Map for South Beach

This area is typically pretty quite, but I was surprised to see how many car "boosts and/or strips" and how many frauds had been reported. I don't even know what fraud can constitute as, but that is definitely the leading crime in my beat. Also, just south of my beat is 6th Street, which would be absolutely covered in icons, however (as my previous rant implies) this is technically SOMA. But South Beach wasn't as quiet as I thought. Who knew?

View Crime Map of South Beach in a larger map

Blood Spills and Stains

The last two days have been gruesome along Mid-Market. First, following up on the stabbing by Hell's Angels, a shop-keeper took me out to the corner of Market and Sixth, and showed me a trail of blood spots.

Going back the next day to talk to bouncers at the Warfield, I was instead pulled down to Powell station. A man had just died after falling down the escalator, getting his hair and clothes caught in the bottom, in what witnesses said resulted in a scalping. This is not officially what happened, but the cops refused to give word, but several people in the immediate area heard the same.

By the time I got there, the body had been removed from the heavily-populated area, but Crime Scene Investigators were wiping up what must've been gnarly.

Anyway, heading back to 850 Bryant for official word, then to Cypress Hill concert so I can get the bouncer's view of the Hell's Angels incident.

Hi students

Dear students,

After a day from hell, the flight to New York, a six-hour delay in JFK, and the flight to West Palm Beach, I'm finally here in warm and sultry southern Florida. I wanted to thank you all for the discussion Monday, which gave me hope for the future of journalism. Good luck with your crime and court stories. I'll post a new message later today or tomorrow here and on ilearn with instructions on your book story and your final story. And I'll be checking your blogs over the course of the next few days.

See you May 2.

Yvonne

The Castro Crime Map

This is the crime map for my neighborhood beat. The Castro has generally been a safe neighborhood for 30 years.In fact most of the crimes that occurs in the neighborhood range from disturbances, vandalism and assaults. The Castro is still probably one of the best areas to raise a family.

PS: Click on the map or drag it down to get a better view of where I placed the thumb tacks.


View The Castro Crime Map in a larger map