By Paul T. Rosynsky
Oakland Tribune
OAKLAND — Nicholas Harris, 19, told police he had nothing to do with the killings of two rival gang members in West Oakland two years ago.
But evidence presented during a two-week trial showed otherwise, deputy district attorney Charles Wilson told a jury in closing arguments Monday.
Harris confessed the killing in text messages and phone conversations with his now ex-girlfriend, at least two witnesses said they saw him shoot the pair, his palm prints were found on the car in which the gang members were killed, and a GPS tracking device Harris, who was on probation, was forced to wear put him at the location of the crime, Wilson said.
But, Wilson told the jury, the most damming evidence against Harris were hours of secretly recorded conversations Harris had from jail with his mother and others in which he asks that witnesses be intimidated and discusses what evidence needs to be destroyed.
“We have an absolute mountain of credible evidence,” Wilson said. “The evidence is overwhelming.”
Harris, who was 17 at the time, is accused of killing Nario Jackson, 18, and Edward Hampton, 17, as the pair sat in a blue Jaguar in front of the city’s Acorn public housing development in the 1000 block of Eighth Street in West Oakland.
Harris was charged as an adult and faces a life term in prison.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that Jackson was shot five times and Hampton was shot at least four times by a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, Wilson said. The shooting occurred about 3:30 p.m. on a sunny Saturday afternoon in November 2010 while dozens of people frolicked outside.
Wilson said evidence has proved that Harris committed the killings because at least one of the victims was a member of a rival gang.
“This was his opportunity to show (the gang) he was down with them,” Wilson said.
What is also alarming in the case, Wilson said, was the role of Harris’ mother, Ranine Howell, who is tape-recorded in several phone calls Harris made from jail agreeing to help her son identify and intimidate witnesses. She is also recorded having conversations with Harris about what evidence police had against her son and whether or not he wore gloves during the killings.
“This point, I gotta tell you, will turn a lot of stomachs,” Wilson said about Howell. “Apparently, it is not being registered that these calls are being recorded.”
Harris’ attorney, Darryl Stallworth, argued that the case against his client is filled with weaknesses that prove only that Harris was among the 50 or so people in the vicinity of the shooting but not the person who actually killed Jackson and Hampton.
Witnesses who identified Harris are not credible, Stallworth said, because they include an ex-girlfriend who was angry at Harris for cheating on her, a felon who was serving time for robbery with a gun, and another teenager who lied to police in order to avoid being implicated in the crime.
“You are going to see so many instances of reasonable doubt that you will have to come back with a conclusion of not guilty,” Stallworth said. “You don’t have to come to this case and be convinced that my client is innocent, you just have to decide if the burden of proof has been met.”
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