Joseph Carroll Jr. found guilty of 3 murders, 2 murder attempts
Throughout the hearing, Carroll insisted on his innocence. "I didn't kill your son," he told one of the mothers. "How can they do this to me?"
On Thursday morning, a jury found Joseph Carroll Jr. guilty of murdering three men and trying to kill two others in Oakland when he was in his early 20s.
The mothers of murder victims Nehemiah Lewis, 24, and Andrew Henderson Jr., 23, cried quietly as the verdicts were read.
Other victim family members held hands and cried quietly during the reading of the verdicts, which took nearly half an hour.
Carroll insisted on his innocence and became emotional early in the hearing.
"I didn't kill your son," he called out to Nehemiah Lewis' mother. "How can they do this to me?"
Carroll wept audibly for nearly 20 minutes until he stepped out of the courtroom and collapsed on the floor.
The jury found Carroll guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, in relation to Lewis and Henderson, and one count of second-degree murder, in relation to 18-year-old Nguyen Ngo.
The jury also found him guilty of two counts of attempted murder and not guilty of one.
Carroll, now 38, began weeping as soon as the first guilty verdict came in, in relation to Nguyen Ngo.
He struck the defense table and began to cry.
"I didn't kill that man," he said. "I swear to God."
Carroll appeared to be in disbelief and repeatedly turned to his attorneys for support as he insisted on his innocence.
Judge Jason Chin eventually asked Carroll to stop disrupting the proceedings unless he wished to be removed.
At one point, Carroll jumped out of his seat and shouted, "I didn't kill these people."
"Why y'all gotta do this shit to my life?" he asked the jury.
"If you want to remain for these proceedings, that is your right," Judge Chin told him. "You cannot keep disrupting them."
During the hearing, more than a dozen deputies were in the courtroom to ensure order.
At times, it was difficult to hear the reading of the verdicts over the sound of Carroll's weeping.
Initially Carroll's mother, Ladonna Hardman, and another family member were his only supporters in the room. Several other supporters joined later as the hearing went on.
"I didn't do it, mama," he said repeatedly.
"I know you didn't," she told him, adding something about how the police had set him up.
At one point, she too stood up and spoke directly to the jury.
"You convicted an innocent man," she told them. "That's what you guys did."
Then she left the room.
Carroll's defense attorneys declined to comment after the hearing but said they planned to appeal the verdict.
Attorneys are set to return to court at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the next steps in the case.
On Wednesday, The Scanner published an in-depth report on the trial, which took place over two months.
The proceedings offered an unprecedented window into alleged Berkeley gang history dating back 20 years and some of its major players.
Don't miss the full report.
Emilie Raguso
The Scanner will continue to follow the story.
