The final witness presented Wednesday in the rape and murder trial of alleged members of the so-called “Jack Boys” gang was one of the defendants.
Fernandez Whatley, named in dozens of counts of criminal gang activity, armed robbery and kidnapping, and his co-defendants Tamario Wise and Robert Veal took the stand Tuesday to tell why Whatley admitted to a Nov. 27, 2010 home invasion.
“I was forced to make the confession,” Whatley said. “It was said that if I didn’t confess to [these] charges, I would be charged for more stuff.”
The “more stuff” he referred to was the Nov. 22 murder of Charles Boyer during an armed robbery in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood, and the rape hours later of a Grant Park woman. Wise and Veal are charged with that rape.
Prosecutors said the trio and another man who testified as a state’s witness – Raphael Cross – participated in a violent criminal rampage across the east side of Atlanta that lasted for more than a month. Dozens of armed robberies and carjackings were reported, and the city was on alert.
On Nov. 22, prosecutors said, Wise and Whatley went into a home and tied up a woman, man and a 9-year-old girl, forcing them to lie face down on the floor, before stealing two flat-screen TVs and the couple’s wedding rings and their 2005 Audi.
Whatley told a jury Tuesday that he was not a gang member and that he was coerced into admitting to the robbery of Angela Fox, Hannibal Heredia and his daughter.
The defendant said Atlanta police homicide Detective Vince Velasquez arrested him and told him he was going to be charged with murder and rape, and other armed robberies if he didn’t take credit for the home invasion.
“He didn’t ask me if I was involved, it was like he was telling me I was involved,” Whatley said of Velasquez. “He really was telling me there was a family being tied up, and I could face that. Or he was showing me a case file filled with other charges, and he said I could be charged with all those.”
Whatley told the court his decision was easy. “In my head, I had already decided I would rather be charged with that armed robbery than all those other cases,” he said.
But on cross examination, Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Lance Cross pointed to holes in Whatley’s story.
“You know that Velasquez had videotape of interview, don’t you?” Cross asked.
“Yes sir,” Whatley said.
“You know your attorney had a transcript of that interview? One-hundred-twelve pages,” Cross said of the document that was given to each member of the jury.
On Monday, Whatley’s lifelong friend Antario Sessions testified that both Whatley and his mother, in the weeks leading up to the trial, asked him to tell police that they were together on the day of the 2010 home invasion.
Sessions, who testified for the prosecution, told the jury he didn’t want to lie.
“I felt like I was going to get myself into something I couldn’t get out of,” Sessions said. He also said, “My mama and my grandmama told me to tell the truth.”
Sessions described seeing Whatley and Wise pulling up that day, driving an Audi — the car prosecutors said was stolen from Fox and Heredia.
Evidence points to an iPhone that was tracked to a home where Whatley was, across the street from where he lives. Police arrested him there nearly a week after the home invasion.
Whatley on Tuesday testified that APD’s Velasquez drove him around in his unmarked car feeding him details of the Nov. 22 robbery before taking him to police headquarters for an interview.
Velasquez was called in to rebut Whatley’s testimony.
“It’s not our procedure to question witnesses or potential suspects inside our car,” Velasquez said.
The DVD showing the interview was presented as evidence, but wasn’t shown to the jury because of technical difficulties. The jury will be able to view the video during deliberations.
Cross pointed to that video, recorded nearly two years ago, to show that Whatley had no alibi.
“In whole interview, you never mentioned Mr. Session’s name,” Cross said, citing the friend as the defendant’s “one alibi.”
Closing statements for the trial began late Tuesday afternoon with Cross, who talked of the extensive nature of the 90-count indictment against the defendants.
“There are so many charges because they committed so many crimes,” Cross said to the jury. “You have an opportunity to say, ‘Enough.’”
Closing statements from each defense attorney for the three defendants are expected Wednesday morning.
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