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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Aug 12 2010 - 10:29:38 EDT
http://fugitive.com/archives/25641
* Judge Larry Goodman granted a motion by Asmerom Gebreselassie to put the
trial on hold again since the murder of three relatives on Thanksgiving Day
in 2006 in Oakland
*Published by Staff Reporter on July 27, 2010*
**
* Judge Larry Goodman granted a motion by Asmerom Gebreselassie to put the
trial on hold again since the murder of three relatives on Thanksgiving Day
in 2006 in Oakland
Published by Staff Reporter on July 27, 2010
Already mired in years of delays, the trial of two brothers on charges that
they murdered three relatives at a home in Oakland on
Thanksgiving Day 2006 has been put on hold again because a judge has allowed
one of the brothers to fire his lawyers. At a hearing on Monday, Alameda
County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman granted a motion by Asmerom
Gebreselassie, 46, who had already switched lawyers several times, to fire
assistant public defenders Ray Plumhoff and Marvin Lew. Goodman appointed
veteran Oakland defense lawyer William DuBois, who had briefly represented
Gebreselassie in the past, to represent him again.
Veteran San Francisco attorney Tony Serra, who represents Asmerom’s
brother, 43-year-old Tewodros Gebreselassie, said he fears that the switch
will mean that the brothers’ trial, which had been scheduled to start in
May, may be pushed back until October or November because DuBois will need
time to prepare. DuBois was unavailable for comment Monday and today. The
shooting murders occurred at the Keller Plaza apartment complex at 5301
Telegraph Ave. in Oakland about 3 p.m. on Nov. 23, 2006.
Killed were Winta Mehari, the Gebreselassie’s 28-year-old sister-in-law;
her brother, Yonas Mehari, 17; and their mother, 50-year-old Regbe
Bahrengasi. Asmerom is accused of being the shooter and Tewodros the
accomplice. Each is charged with three counts of murder and could face life
in prison without parole, but not the death penalty, if convicted. They
also face one count of attempted murder for the non-fatal shooting of
Yehtram Mehari, the brother or Winta and Yonas. Additionally, each is
charged with one count of kidnapping for allegedly taking Winta Mehari’s
2-year-old son from the scene, and two counts of false imprisonment.
Lastly, they are charged with two special-circumstance murder clauses:
multiple murder and murder during the course of a kidnapping. At the
brothers’ preliminary hearing, which lasted for 28 days spread over six
months, Plumhoff said Asmerom acted in self-defense and opened fire only
after two male members of the Mehari family met him with an angry outburst
and pulled out guns.
Tewodros’ attorney during the preliminary hearing, Robert Beles, said
Tewodros had no idea that Asmerom was coming to the apartment and was armed
with a gun. But John Jay, the prosecutor at the preliminary hearing,
alleged that Asmeron and Tewodros were motivated by revenge and wanted to
“massacre” Winta Mehari and her entire family because they believed she was
responsiblefor the death of 42-year-old Abraham Tewolde, her husband and
their older brother, at the couple’s home in Berkeley on March 1, 2006.
Abraham Tewolde’s death was investigated by Berkeley police but his cause
of death was undetermined. Jay also alleged that the brothers wanted to
kidnap Abraham’s 2-year-old son so they could raise him and also collect on
a $500,000 life insurance policy that Abraham had taken out before he died,
as the boy is a beneficiary.
The brothers and the victims in the case are all from Eritrea and the case
has split Oakland’s Eritrean community, with supporters of the brothers and
of the victims packing the courtroom during most of the hearings in the case
and sitting on opposite sides of the courtroom. The specifics of Asmerom
Gebreselassie’s so-called “Marsden motion” to fire his lawyers weren’t made
public, because it’s a confidential matter and only Asmerom and his lawyers
were in court for the hearing. But in a Marsden motion, named for a 1970
appellate court ruling,
defendants allege that either their lawyers are not providing adequate
representation or they and their lawyers have become embroiled in such an
irreconcilable conflict that ineffective representation is likely to result.
Serra said he believes the reason that Asmerom wanted to fire Plumhoff and
Lew is that he wasn’t getting along well with them.
Plumhoff and Lew couldn’t be reached for comment. In other rulings on
Monday, Goodman denied Tewodros’ motion to be prosecuted separately from
Asmeron, and Tewodros’ motion to be granted bail. Serra said he wants
Tewodros to be prosecuted separately because “only one-fifth of the
witnesses in the case are relevant to him” and he thinks it will be “very
prejudicial” for him to stand trial with his brother.
Serra said he thinks Tewodros should be granted bail because he’s a
University of California at Berkeley graduate who has a good work record and
no previous criminal record. Both brothers are being held in custody without
bail. Another pending issue in the complicated case is a defense motion to
have Asmerom declared incompetent to stand trial.
Goodman said Monday that two of the three psychiatrists who have examined
Asmerom have said they believe he is mentally competent, but he won’t rule
on the matter until next Monday. Serra said that although it’s theoretically
possible that the brothers’ trial could start in late August, he thinks
there’s a good chance that DuBois may not stay in the case because Asmerom
has clashed with him in the past. Serra, who had cleared his calendar in
hopes that the trial would be held this summer, said that if DuBois doesn’t
stay in the case, another lawyer would have to be appointed to represent
Asmerom and would need time to prepare.
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