On March 2^nd, 2004, a young man named "Kemo" Deshawn McCray was tragically gunned down in a hail of bullets on South Orange Avenue in Newark, New Jersey.   He was taking a cigarette break with his stepfather, Johnnie Davis, while working at a construction site.  The stepfather  said he was so close to his stepson when he was shot that he could feel the gun powder from the bullets burning his skin.

You see, Kemo was a young man who had unwillingly become an FBI informant.  He had a troubled past and had become involved in the drug trade.  The FBI's solution to dealing with drug problems in the Black community  is to take advantage of people like Kemo by threatening them with excessive jail time if they don't "cooperate" with them.  Cooperation means keeping them in the drug life by having them buying and selling  drugs in poor communities while making them wear a wire.    And everyone knows that wearing a wire in the drug trade can be a death sentence.   Certainly Kemo knew that.  And most certainly the FBI knew that.   Agent Shaun Broccos, the lead agent in the case againdt Paul, even admitted on the stand that Kemo asked to be put in the witness protection program a month before he was gunned down because he feared for his life.   And while she claims that the FBI was looking into things, the reality is that although they had a whole month to secure this young man's life, they did nothing – thus solidifying his fate on March 2^nd, 2004.  

The government then unjustly accused Bergrin of orchestrating the murder of this informant, and desperately wanted Anthony Young, their main witness, to be the killer.   This way they could link Young to a client Paul was representing, William Baskerville.   Baskerville was caught on tape purchasing drugs from McCray.   The government claims that Bergrin revealed the identity of McCray to Baskerville and arranged for him to be murdered to prevent him from testifying against his client.

But the problem with the government’s case is that Anthony Young did not fit the description of the killer that was given by McCray’s stepfather – t he only known eyewitness to the murder! (The step father said the killer had dreads down to his shoulders.  Anthony Young’s head was clean shaven at the time!) 

Also,  Anthony Young didn’t know any of the details of the crime scene. He says that McCray was wearing a dust mask around his neck when he was shot.   But the dust mask was found at his side.  Young says that McCray fell face down.   But McCray was found laying on his side.   Ballistics show that the gunman was left handed – Young is right handed. In fact, Anthony Young lied repeatedly to the FBI and even fingered someone else in a previous trial.  

In addition to Paul steadfastly maintaining his innocence, he also pointed out that his client, Baskerville, wasn’t facing heavy time and that it would be nonsensical for his client to have McCray killed because the FBI had videotape of Baskerville purchasing drugs from McCray and therefore did not need his testimony.

But none of these glaring inconsistencies and contradictions mattered to the FBI or to the  US Attorney’s office.  Instead, they presented a slew of people convicted of felonies and facing hard time, whom they bribed with plea bargains  in exchange for their false testimony against Paul.   The deals included years shaved off of their sentences, homes and years in the witness protection program.  (Anthony Young was promised 30 years in the Witness Protection program).     Testimony after testimony revealed that these witnesses lied to the FBI, to the US Attorney General’s office,  and to the jury.  Much of their testimony during the trial even contradicted previous testimony that they had given during other trials.  Not only that, but the government so desperately wanted Anthony Young to be the killer, that they never even called McCray’s stepfather to positively identify him.

The case that the prosecutor’s office brought forward was so weak, so fraught with holes and lies that Judge William J. Martini on several occasions expressed concern about the credibility of their witnesses and their lack of hard evidence     http://defense.criminalattorneysatlanta.net/judge-in-bergrin-murder-conspiracy-trial-questions-credibility-of-star-witness/.

And while many consider the mistrial of the first case a victory for Bergrin, his troubles are far from over, as he is still imprisoned and awaiting trial for the rest of the 31 count indictment that the government has brought against him.