The gun found near Joe Blacknell III during his September 2009 capture was almost certainly the same Smith & Wesson 9 mm that fired more than two dozen rounds at crime scenes in Oakland and Richmond, a firearms and ammunitions identification expert testified Monday. “It’s our conclusion that it is a practical impossibility that any…
Although Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus is expected to be in court through March defending himself in a racial discrimination lawsuit, RPD leaders say it’s business as usual for the department.
On the sixth day of testimony Thursday, Sergeant James Jenkins, a plaintiff in the discrimination lawsuit against the city of Richmond, police Chief Chris Magnus and former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter, testified that there was a buddy system in place when it came to picking candidates for the Richmond Police Department’s Investigative Services Division. In…
This Oakland singer/songwriter wants to work for you, so to speak. She’s also the focus of our latest Bandwidth, our continuing video series highlighting talented musicians in the East Bay. We bring you Alexa Weber-Morales as she debuts her latest album “I Wanna Work For You,” a fan-funded endeavor consisting of 10 original songs which…
In 2007, eight high-ranking African American police officers sued the city of Richmond, accusing police Chief Chris Magnus and former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter of racial discrimination. The civil trial is now in its third week in Contra Costa Superior Court in Martinez. The plaintiffs—one of whom has since retired from the department and dropped…
The black-hooded sweatshirt Joe Blacknell III wore on the day he allegedly shot four people and missed two others had minute traces of gunshot residue on it, but not enough to definitively conclude that he fired a gun, a Los Angeles County criminalist testified Wednesday at Contra Costa Superior Court in Martinez. Blacknell is an…
By Robert Rogers
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Posted in AP, Bay Citizen, Blacknell Trial, Crime, Front, North Richmond
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Tagged derek butts, diana garrido, joe blacknell, marcus russell, murder, richmond
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One witness didn’t show, two were several hours late, and the most pivotal one had a foggy memory. On the fifth day of testimony in one of the most anticipated criminal cases coming out of Richmond in recent years, the prosecution slogged through a series of unwanted developments and uncooperative witnesses. “So you’re saying all…
By Robert Rogers
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Posted in AP, Bay Citizen, Blacknell Trial, Crime, Front, North Richmond
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Tagged contra costa county court, Crime, derek butts, diana garrido, fatter, homicide, joe blacknell, marcus russell, richmond
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A curbside memorial marks the spot where Edwin Martinez was fatally shot earlier this week, but who is responsible and why it happened remain unknown. “He appears absolutely innocent,” said Capt. Mark Gagan. “Totally uninvolved in what was going on.” At around 6:45 p.m. Monday night, the 22-year-old Richmond man was shot and killed while…
Two witnesses took the stand Monday to talk about being the victims of violent crimes, but neither implicated the man prosecutors say was the perpetrator. “How did that feel, being shot,” Deputy District Attorney Derek Butts asked one witness, a 32-year-old man Richmond Police have said is a central Richmond gang member. “I didn’t feel…
By Robert Rogers
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Posted in AP, Bay Citizen, Blacknell Trial, Crime, Front, North Richmond, Yahoo
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Tagged derek butts, diana garrido, fatter, homicide, joe blacknell, kristian palma, marcus russell, murder, rapper, richmond, young smacka
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University of California leaders announced this morning that Lawrence Berkeley National Labs has selected the Richmond Field Station as the location of its second site.
The Richmond Rockets improved to 10-3 on the season with a dominating win over the Sacramento Heatwave Saturday night. The final score was 120-102, with the Rockets leading throughout. The Rockets swept the two-game home set against Sacramento, with Saturday’s win on the heels of a 102-90 drubbing of the Heatwave at the Richmond Memorial…
Wallace Jensen and his partner Kristian Palma were in the dark, guns drawn. The Richmond police officers had moments earlier sprinted down Cutting Boulevard, hopped a retaining wall and plunged into a narrow alcove in the 500 block of South 18th Street. The city had been rocked by brazen shootings throughout the day, and the…
By Robert Rogers
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Posted in AP, Bay Citizen, Blacknell Trial, Crime, Front, North Richmond, Yahoo
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Tagged carjacking, Crime, fatter, hip hop, homicide, joe blacknell, kristian palma, marcus russell, matthew stonebraker, rap, richmond, simmons, steve harris, wallace jensen, young smacka
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By the time for the Richmond Police Department’s evening shift change, the city was on high alert. Bloodshed had started just before 9 a.m., when gunfire at the Pullman Apartment complex sent two alleged gang members to Kaiser Hospital. About two hours later, a 30-year-old man and his 10-year-old niece sitting in a green Buick…
By Robert Rogers
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Posted in AP, Bay Citizen, Blacknell Trial, Crime, Front, North Richmond, Yahoo
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Tagged derek butts, diana garrido, fatter, joe blacknell, Kaiser, marcus russell, matthew anderson, murder, Pullman, rapper, richmond police, steve harris, superpredator, wallace jensen, young smacka
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