Attorneys stand firm in Oakland triple murder trial plagued by extreme security concerns

This week starkly different images emerged of a reputed Berkeley gang member accused in a series of murders some 15 years ago, painting the man as either a ruthless triple killer or a falsely accused victim of lies and deceptions.

Those contrasting views took center stage Tuesday afternoon as a jury began deliberating in the triple-murder trial of Joseph Carroll Jr., who is accused of killing three people and seriously injuring others during a series of violence that stretched from 2009 to 2011. The deliberations come after nearly two months of testimony, which was marred by accusations of witness intimidation, retracted statements or stony silence from those called to the stand.

In hours-long closing arguments that became extremely acrimonious, prosecutors and Carroll’s lawyers accused the other of manipulating the jury to win his case.

“Let’s seek clarity here — let’s sanitize the lies and the insidious nature of the prosecution in this case and expose it for what it really is,” Carroll’s attorney, William Welch, said as he implored jurors to do not succumb to a complex network. of “rumors and lies” that led to Carroll’s arrest.

In closing arguments, Welch described several witnesses in the case as a collection of “convicts, crooks and criminals” who lied to the police, misremembered events or simply framed their client as a means of currying favor with the authorities . He said the jury was “misled” and “deceived” by the prosecutor in the case.

“Don’t be misled — don’t take that path of falsehood,” Welch said. “Integrity matters. It counts in making the right decision.”

Prosecutor Natasha Jontulovich countered by framing these statements as a “tactic” designed to turn the case into a “popularity contest”.

“You have been invited not so subtly to disobey the law,” Jontulovich said. “This is a distraction technique.”

Carroll, 36, faces felony charges in four shootings from 2009 to 2011 during a vicious rivalry between alleged gang members in Berkeley — where Carroll lived — and North Oakland. Three of the shootings turned fatal, while another left two men with a variety of injuries: punctured lungs, a lacerated spleen, broken bones and a myriad of health problems that lingered for years.

During the first shooting on April 23, 2009, authorities say Carroll walked into North Oakland and unloaded an assault rifle on men standing along 45th Street in a shooting that seriously injured one man and killed a his brother Nguyen Ngo. .

A little more than a year later, on May 3, 2010, authorities say Carroll ambushed two men in North Oakland because of fears that one of them was dating the mother of his child. Again, he unloaded a flurry of shots, Jontulovich said, leaving at least 17 bullet casings behind at the scene.

The following month, prosecutors allege, Carroll opened fire in broad daylight, fatally wounding Nehemiah Lewis, a man Carroll believed had witnessed the earlier killing.

The shooting spree came on April 13, 2011, when authorities say Carroll was the gunman in a drive-by shooting of another car carrying four people. Andrew Henderson Jr. died, while three others were injured.

Use your common sense,” Jontulovich told the jury, arguing it would lead to the conclusion that “the defendant committed every crime.”

Carroll was arrested and charged with three counts of murder years after the murders. A preliminary hearing into the murders was held in 2018, and police say they have since fought attempts to intimidate witnesses at every turn.

Carroll’s relatives were caught illegally photographing witnesses in court and posting a live Instagram feed of court proceedings. As a result, court security was beefed up to the hilt – a second set of metal detectors was installed outside the courtroom, and attendees were prohibited from bringing anything other than pen and paper.

Despite those restrictions, one of Carroll’s relatives was caught bringing a 65-gigabyte audio recorder — disguised as a pen — to a July 1 court hearing, authorities said. The woman claimed it was accidental and thought it was just a pen.

The alleged attempts to intimidate witnesses had some success. Several witnesses told investigators they were too scared to come to court, and police had to track down and arrest at least two for failing to comply with subpoenas. At a hearing earlier this month, a man took the stand and stared blankly at the prosecutor, refusing to answer a single question or identify himself by name, according to a court order.