Berkeley Barbershop Killing: Jury Deciding Fate of Accused Killer

OAKLAND, CA -Two people were shot outside a Berkeley barbershop in October 2010, one of them fatally. Now a jury is deciding whether Brandon Wallace, 26 is one of the killers.

In his closing argument prosecutor Matt Wendt said witness testimony, surveillance camera footage, GPS tracking records and DNA evidence show that Wallace was one of two suspects who carried out the shooting outside Johnson's House of Style in the 2900 block of Sacramento Street in Berkeley at 8:45 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2010.

Gary Ferguson Jr., a 35-year-old Oakland man, was killed in the shooting and Larry Belle, who worked as a barber at the barbershop, was wounded.

The second suspected shooter in the incident has never been arrested or charged.

Wendt didn't specify a motive for the shooting but said Wallace and the second shooter fired more than 20 shots from two different guns.

Wendt said surveillance camera footage shows the suspect who remains at large accidentally shooting Wallace, who was holding a gun, in the back of his left leg as Wallace was backing away from the scene after Ferguson and Belle were shot.

Showing the video footage to jurors, Wendt said, "There he is, plain as day. There's the gun, plain as day."

He said that when Berkeley police contacted local hospitals afterward to see if they were treating anyone who had suffered gunshot wounds to his left leg they discovered that Wallace was getting medical treatment at the Kaiser hospital in Richmond after he provided a false name.

Wendt said that when police went to Wallace's hospital room they found blue jeans and tennis shoes that were similar to those that were worn by one of the suspected shooters in the video of the incident outside the barbershop.

But Wallace's lawyer, Bonnie Narby, said Wallace couldn't have been one of the shooters because he had gone to Richmond that morning to meet up with a woman he had recently met. Narby said that as Wallace left the BART station near 16th Street and MacDonald Avenue a man came up and asked him for change for a $20 bill but when he fumbled for change the man tried to rob him and shot him.

The defense lawyer said Wallace waived down a driver to take him to the hospital and said he checked in under a false name because he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest on an unrelated matter.

But Wendt said Wallace's testimony that he was shot in Richmond that morning is "ridiculous" because it isn't supported by "shotspotter" technology used by Richmond to police to track shootings in their city or any reports of gunfire.

"It's a nice story but it's not backed up with any corroboration," Wendt said.

Narby said she believes Berkeley police "rushed to judgment" by focusing on Wallace as a suspect within two hours of the shooting and said there's little direct evidence that ties Wallace to the shooting.

She also alleged that Berkeley police ignored leads that indicated that other suspects might have been responsible for the shooting.

In addition, Narby said the prosecution failed to provide a reason why Wallace might have wanted to kill Ferguson and Belle or that he even knew them before the shooting.

She said the prosecution isn't required to provide a motive for the shooting but the jury may consider the lack of a motive as a factor indicating that Wallace isn't guilty.

Wendt asked jurors to find Wallace guilty of murder and attempted murder but Narby said they should find him not guilty of both charges.

A third suspect, 26-year-old Coleon Carroll of Berkeley, who allegedly was the driver in the shooting incident, had been scheduled to stand trial with Wallace. But Carroll recently pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter in a plea agreement that calls for him to receive a term of 13 years in state prison when he's sentenced on March 21.

He didn't testify at Wallace's trial.

--Bay City News