Crime Map

View The Fillmore District Crime Map in a larger map

Sorry this took so long! There were way too many dots at first, so I had to downsize!

Crime in the Upper Haight

View Crime in the Upper Haight in a larger map


Sorry this is so late.... It literally just took me 20 minutes to figure out how to post this. :/ Don't worry: I'm taking Digital News Gathering next semester, so there's hope for me yet!

Witnesses and Their Elaborate Stories

A lot of the witnesses I've interviewed in the past couple of days have told the most exaggerated, laughingly false accounts.

You can see their faces swell, being questioned, on-the-spot, and so come up with useless, but often entertaining versions of truth.

I like hearing how people tell stories.

For example: "The escalator ate him up."

But also, how an accurate witness tells the story, is a way I want to follow.

Bayview Crime Map

View Bayview Crime Map in a larger map

Lake Merrit station, not Fruitvale

I went to the Chauncey Bailey trail but, unfortunately, only was inside the courtroom room for a short time. I first got off on the wrong BART station, arriving to the courthouse after the trial started. I DID NOT KONW YOU CANNOT WALK IN OR OUT OF THE COURTROOM WHILE COURT IS IN SESSION! So I had to wait until they went to recess. When they returned, they only continued on for short while longer before they were dismissed. I DID NOT KNOW THAT THEY WERE TAKING A HALF-DAY TODAY!

I was only able to witness one cross-examination. Yusef Bey's ex-girlfriend, Sheavon Williams, was testifying. I was surprised by the way she was participating in the trail; she was all sluggish, slouching on her chair, and not really giving a damn. For a moment, I wondered if she knew she was testifying in a murder case. And she must have known there was going to be no cameras in the courtroom because she looked like wtf. I mean, she is an attractive girl, but she was wearing a sweatsuit! Who the hell wears a sweatsuit and sneakers to a murder trail?! I even wore a nice vest and combed my hair!

Then, her testimony was pretty much, "I don't know. I don't remember." She apparently couldn't remember about testimonies she had previously given. She was reminded with transcripts, but still then said she couldn't remember.

Since this was my first time coming to the trial, I don't know if she was helping or hurting Bey's defense. It could be viewed that she is not cooperating because she just doesn't want anything to do with the trial, or that she is covering up for him.

It sucks that today was a half-day, apparently for the holiday weekend, because I feel I got little for a crime story. Now I am going to have to spend my weekend looking for crime in my neighborhood! Wish me luck and happy holidays!

Update...

So it's been rough times with the profile and the crime story, but I finally got a break and I'm very excited about it! Thanks to connections I finally got an in for my crime story. I was feeling pretty down about it since going to 850 Bryant was a total bust. I pulled out everything I could think of and made sure to be friendly with the male cops. It worked out in the beginning, they were super helpful and told me where to go and helped me get around, but once I got to the Admins that was completely over. The admins would not give me any information and insisted that I needed to go to the Legal Dept. to get a subpoena for records. I kept insisting that I should be allowed to check out some reports, but she kept pushing the "legal" card. I went to the Bayview Police Station hoping for some kind of miracle, but that was just another bust. They were even worse than 850 Bryant. Luckily my connections came to the rescue and I should be set for the crime story. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

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: