OAKLAND (BCN) — The slow-moving preliminary hearing for multiple suspects charged with murder for the fatal shooting of a West Oakland mother last year was delayed once again on Thursday.
The hearing, which met for two days at the beginning of August and then was halted for more than three weeks before it resumed on Tuesday and Wednesday, was scheduled to continue Thursday but at the last minute it was discovered that one of the attorneys hadn’t been provided with all of the evidence in the case.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner postponed the hearing until next Tuesday.
The attorneys in the case hope it can be concluded by the end of next week. The purpose of the hearing is to determine if there’s enough evidence to have the defendants in the case ordered to stand trial for the
fatal shooting of Chyemil Pierce, 30, outside of her home in the 2800 block of Chestnut Street at about 4:45 p.m. on March 9, 2015.
Charged with murder for the death of Pierce, who worked as a human resources specialist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, are Joneria Reed, 38, Julian Ambrose, 18, Jerry Harbin, 31, Alex Davis, 26, Shelton McDaniels, 30, Michael Stills, 22, and Anthony Sims, 21.
In addition, Ambrose and Sims face an attempted murder charge for allegedly shooting at Harbin.
An eighth defendant, Dijon Ward, 22, who is Reed’s son, is charged with being an accessory after the fact for allegedly hiding the gun that Sims allegedly used.
The shooting occurred after two groups of women got into a fight on Chestnut Street and two groups of men came to the scene and became involved in the confrontation.
Oakland police said Pierce wasn’t involved in the argument but had just picked up two of her children from a charter school in the area and was struck by gunfire as she tried to help them to safety.
Prosecutors say Sims, Harbin, McDaniels, Davis and Ambrose all opened fire in the shootout that killed Pierce, who was hit by a bullet in the back of her head. Investigators haven’t said who they believe fired the
shot that killed her.
Stills isn’t charged with firing a gun during the incident but is accused of being armed with one and prosecutors allege that he’s also legally responsible for the killing.
The three-week delay in August was caused by the fact that two of the eight defense attorneys in the case were involved in important murder trials in other courtrooms, as well as the busy schedules of the other
attorneys.
Horner granted the most recent delay to Ward’s attorney Gary Sherrer, who has only been representing Ward for a few months and just discovered that he hadn’t been given all of the evidence in the case.
Another wrinkle in the case occurred on Tuesday when Horner ruled that McDaniels should have a separate hearing at a later date due to a potential conflict because Sims’ attorney William DuBois previously
represented McDaniels in a pimping case in which he was convicted and sentenced to state prison.
McDaniels’ lawyer Stephen Avilla said Thursday that Horner “did the right thing in responding to an unusual set of circumstances.”
Avilla said “the conflict was clear” because DuBois has confidential information about McDaniels that he could use against him in representing Sims.
He noted that McDaniels and Sims allegedly belong to rival factions who were allegedly shooting at other during the confrontation and blame each other for the shooting.
Avilla said the key issue is if the shooting was mutual combat or if one side started the incident and the other side was merely acting in self-defense or in defense of their friends.
Noting that the defendants charged with murder face life in prison if they’re convicted, Avilla said, “You really have to be careful and err on the side of caution.”
McDaniels will have a separate preliminary hearing at a later date.
Avilla said if all eight defendants are ordered to stand trial, McDaniels would likely rejoin the other defendants for the trial.