chaunceybaileyproject.org

Journalist Chauncey Bailey was killed in 2007

Conversation about the structure of a news story is most often kept between a reporter and her editor.

But Thursday afternoon, as reporters scribbled on, the inner workings of journalism played a role in the courtroom.

The content and structure of news stories about Chauncey Bailey murder defendant Yusuf Bey and co-defendant Antoine Mackey formed one argument among many defense lawyer Gary Sirbu made in support of moving the trial to another county.

Sirbu's argument included three days of testimony by a jury expert who said the men were 70 percent likely to be convicted by a local jury – mostly because of incessant media coverage. Judge Thomas Reardon now has one week to decide whether the trial shall remain in Alameda County.

“Basically, the press reports on one item and then invariable goes through a history. Because of a story model, they internalize a set of beliefs,” Sirbu said of the potential jurors. “They may not be able to recall that, but it’s buried there, this storyline, that these are cold-blooded killers."

Bryan Edelman, a social psychologist hired by Sirbu and Bey’s lawyer, Gene Peretti, conducted phone interviews with more than 400 potential local jurors and said about 98 percent considered Bey guilty. He also testified there have been more than 1,500 articles about the case in local media outlets, and that about a third of each article was comprised of “recycled” content about the history of the case, Your Black Muslim Bakery and all it’s alleged players.

In Sirbu’s description of most of the news articles, a recap of his client’s case might go something like this:

Between them, the two men face three murder charges. Bey is charged with ordering the 2007 killing of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey and two others. Mackey is charged with killing one of those victims, Michael Wills, and helping confessed shooter Devaughndre Broussard kill Bailey and shoot a third victim, Odell Roberson.

Broussard struck a deal with the district Attorney’s office in exchange for his testimony in Bey’s case. He told a grand jury that the former leader of the Bakery, Bey’s father, had ordered him to kill Bailey because of his coverage of the organization’s financial problems and criminal activities.

During this week’s hearings, Reardon seemed unconvinced of Edelman’s argument and called his count of news articles “exaggerated.” He continued to appear skeptical Thursday, questioning Sirbu about the “weight” of the coverage in the case.

Sirbu said the media's linking of Mackey, Bey and other Your Black Muslim Bakery players was the equivalent of trying someone alongside Hitler.

Reardon pointed to several reporters seated behind Sirbu.

“And haven’t you put that through the public’s mind now with the press seated there?” he asked.

Sirbu paused to look and continued.

“When you put someone with a member of an organization that has become notorious, in the public’s mind, they put them together,” Sirbu said, adding that could have an especially negative effect on his client Mackey.

“Anyway you cut it, it’s a voluminous amount of publicity against the defendants,” he said. “It’s been a complete media barrage.”