Prosecutor Defends Credibility Of Key Witness In Oakland Murder Case
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A prosecutor Tuesday defended the credibility of the sister of an 18-year-old man who was fatally shot in East Oakland in 2013.
In his closing argument in the trial of 37-year-old Kendell Eatmon for what he said was the gang-related drive-by shooting of Alquino Rivera in the 8000 block of Ney Avenue shortly after 11 a.m. on Aug. 3, 2013, prosecutor Patrick Moriarty admitted that Rivera's sister, Tiana Rivera, "is motivated" and "wants Mr. Eatmon to be convicted."
But Moriarty said Tiana Rivera's identification of Eatmon as the man who killed her brother is supported by the testimony of other witnesses, surveillance camera videos and phone records.
He said, "She wants justice for her brother."
Moriarty conceded that Tiana Rivera, who was the prosecution's key witness, didn't immediately identify Eatmon as the shooter when she talked to police but he said that's because Eatmon had long dreadlocks before the
shooting incident and the shooter had short hair.
Moriarty said Rivera had known Eatmon for eight years and shortly after the shooting she realized that he was in fact the shooter.
Eatmon's defense attorney, Annie Beles, won't present her closing argument until Wednesday morning but in her opening statement three weeks ago she told jurors that they shouldn't trust Tiana Rivera's testimony because
she believes Rivera was in a rush to pin her brother's death on someone from a rival gang.
Beles said that in the hours after the shooting Rivera was "a motivated, angry, grieving, sad sister who decides to say it was him (Eatmon) in the van" from which the fatal shot was fired.
Moriarty said the fatal shooting resulted from a turf war between two rival East Oakland gangs that began when 20-year-old Terrance Smith was fatally shot in the 2600 block of 74th Avenue on Sept. 4, 2011, nearly two
years before Alquino Rivera was killed.
He said Smith, also known as "T Face," belonged to the "Ney Team" gang and authorities believe he was killed by a member of the rival "76 Bandits" gang who has been arrested and is awaiting trial.
Moriarty said Rivera was a member of the Ney Team gang with a tattoo on his arm that said, "R.I.P. T-Face." He also alleged that Eatmon is a member of the 76 Bandits gang with a tattoo of that gang's symbol on his
arm and uses "All Bandits Up" as his name on social media websites.
An Oakland police gang expert testified during Eatmon's trial that the two groups are criminal street gangs in East Oakland and were feuding with each other.
Alquino Rivera was only hit by one of the 12 bullets fired at him, but that bullet lodged in his chest and killed him, Moriarty said.
Eatmon, an unemployed man who lived in Hayward and has six prior felony convictions, was arrested in the 7600 block of MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland about seven hours after the shooting.
He is charged with murder, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and being an ex-felon in possession of a gun.
According to prosecutors, Eatmon has three prior felony convictions for sales of narcotics and one each for possession of drugs, evading police and receiving stolen property.
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