HIP HOP ENQUIRER EXCLUSIVE LIVE COVERAGE OF
THE MURDER TRIAL OF:
STATE OF CALIFORNIA VS AUBREY LOUIS BERRY
(Testimony by Rapper Dolla’s Girlfriend Crystal Jackson)
Dennis Byron, Editor-in-Chief
Taylor Van Arsdale, Los Angeles Special Correspondent
As most remembered that tragic day last year on May 18th when rapper Roderick Anthony Burton II aka Dolla was shot multiple times outside the popular eatery PF Changs by accused gunman Aubrey Louis Berry.
The two had a previous altercation in a local Atlanta strip club when the accused apparently insulted the slain rapper’s girlfriend. It’s still unclear whether the slain rapper was directly involved in that particular altercation however whatever the result of it one young man is dead and another is on trial facing a life sentence. After a year of hearings and motion filings by both sides the trial is finally underway and it is projected to last two weeks. Although presiding Judge David S. Wesley has yet to rule on allowing our video cameras into the courtroom, our team of reporters consisting of myself, Taylor Van Arsdale and Maya Myers will be bringing our readers a blow by blow account of the trial as developments unfold.
Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace questions Crystal Jackson who is the former girlfriend of Roderick Anthony Burton II. There is an emotional moment when she is asked to look at and describe the slain rapper’s tattoos:
JACKSON: He had Angel wings, a knife going through his side, the words “Friend or Foe,” Roderick had many tattoos.
GRACE: Do you know the meaning of any of these tattoos?
JACKSON: No.
Crystal Jackson grew up in Ladera Heights. She went to Frank D. Parent kindergarten, and Westchester High School in LAUSD. Frank D. Parent is in the Inglewood School district.
GRACE: Did you have to get a permit to go to Westchester High School?
JACKSON: Yes.
GRACE: Did your parents send you there to make sure you were not around gangs?
JACKSON: Yes.
GRACE: Mr. Price asked you if you were familiar with the Manville Crips. Have you heard of the Bloods and the Crips?
JACKSON: Yes, somewhat.
GRACE: Did you know specifically about any gangs in LA in the schools you were attending?
JACKSON: No
GRACE: Did you know Sidiq [Abawi] to be a member of a gang?
JACKSON: No
GRACE: What about Roderick?
JACKSON: No
GRACE: Aubrey?
JACKSON: No.
GRACE: Did you ever see them together?
JACKSON: Yes.
GRACE: What was Roderick doing when you saw him?
JACKSON: Producing, Writing and Rapping
GRACE: And Sidiq?
JACKSON: DJ-ing
GRACE: Did you ever see them doing gang activity?
JACKSON: No.
Jackson is then asked to show her tattoos. Judge Wesley deems this unnecessary.
Crystal never asked Roderick about any of his tattoos.
Questioning continues with cross-examination of Crystal Jackson by Defense Attorney Howard Price.
PRICE: You told Mr. Grace that no one was in a gang. T-Money, to your knowledge was he a gang member? (Referring to Roderick Burton’s former business partner of their record label The Gang Entertainment)
JACKSON: No
PRICE: Were there ever any gang problems when in the presence of Mr. Berry?
JACKSON: No
The Judge schedules a break for lunch. Crystal Jackson is dismissed, but must remain on call for further questioning. When the jurors leave, the judge gets into a heated exchange with Defense attorney Howard Price for trying to bring in a prior gun arrest to the case. The judge previously ruled the gun arrest was inadmissible during the trial.
JUDGE: This is not a declaration against penal interest.
He then reams Howard Price for trying to bring in the issue of a prior gun arrest by way of any expert.
JUDGE: The expert can relay on many things – but I’m not going to let you get something in from the back door that I won’t allow in the front door.
PRICE: Off the record every court seems to have its own style.
JUDGE: If she [Crystal] says, “I don’t remember you cannot impeach her on “I don’t remember.”
The Judge then cites the case “People vs. Green” by way of example.
PRICE: I got the impression that this court thinks its okay to impeach on a prior statement, for example if the witness first says, “The car is green and then says the car is blue”
JUDGE: But she said, “I don’t remember” to your question. What I said you should do is attempt to show her again. If she said, “It’s blue” and previously said “it’s green” you can impeach her but you can’t impeach her for not remembering.
Updates after the break.
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