SALEM— On the 13th day of the trial of Marcus Carlisle, of Lynn and Tyrell Berberena, of Everett, the Commonwealth rested its case Friday morning after presenting the jury with two final pieces of evidence — pictures of the defendants’ tattoos.
Carlisle and Berberena are accused of murdering Lynner Noe Hernandez and injuring four others in a drive-by shooting that took place July 4, 2020 at a cookout at 134 Fayette St., Lynn.
The Commonwealth alleges that the two defendants, and their co-conspirators — Elijah Fontes-Wilson and Josue Cespedes — are members of the Tiny Rascals Gang and organized the drive-by shooting in retaliation against partygoers they believed to be rival gang members who shot Fontes-Wilson in June 2020.
Justice Salim Tabit addressed the jury, announcing that the photographs of the number 7126 – a code name for the Tiny Rascals Gang – tattooed on Carlisle’s hand and Berberena’s back would serve as stipulated evidence agreed upon by both the defense counsel and the Commonwealth.
“The stipulation itself is docketed, and it is stipulated that the two exhibits, that are photographs, are a true and accurate photograph of Tyrell Berberena’s back and neck and a true and accurate photograph of Marcus Carlisle’s hand,” Tabit said.
Prior to the Commonwealth’s final two exhibits of evidence, Carlisle’s attorney James Krasnoo cross-examined Denis Pierce, a forensic video analyst for the Essex County District Attorney.
Krasnoo played security camera footage taken July 3, 2020, which the Commonwealth previously introduced as evidence. In the footage a man, claimed by the prosecution to be Carlisle, parks the white Ford pickup truck, allegedly used in the shooting, at a Walmart in Saugus. The man, wearing a COVID-19 mask, enters the Walmart with a woman and makes a purchase.
Krasnoo then played footage from the same day of a man in the white pickup truck at the CambridgeSide Galleria Mall.
“Do you see the gentleman who was in these pictures anywhere in this courtroom?” Krasnoo asked.
“The people that I focused on in that CambridgeSide Galleria video were wearing masks, and I’m not comfortable making an identification from people in this video,” Pierce said.
When Krasnoo asked if Pierce could identify anybody in the footage from the Walmart, he responded that he could not because they were wearing masks as well.
In a brief cross-examination, prosecutor Susan Dolhun confirmed with Pierce that the Walmart footage aligned with a time-stamped receipt for a spray bottle, and that the Cambridge footage correlated to a parking garage stub previously introduced as evidence.
After the court reconvened following a 15-minute morning recess, Krasnoo explained that he filed a motion for acquittal because he believed the prosecution had insufficient evidence against his client.
Krasnoo argued that the only evidence linking Carlisle or Berberena to the murder was Fontes-Wilson’s testimony. Since Fontes-Wilson initially lied to police and was offered a reduced sentence for his cooperation, Krasnoo argued that the witness’s testimony lacked credibility.
“Immunized testimony must be corroborated, and there has been no corroboration in this entire case — except from Elijah Fontes-Wilson himself — that Mr. Carlisle and Mr. Berberena were in the car and committed the shooting,” Krasnoo said.
Krasnoo said that while video evidence indicated Carlisle occupied the truck the day before the shooting, the Commonwealth provided no evidence, other than Fontes-Wilson’s testimony, that he was in the car on July 4, 2020.
Berberena’s attorney Brian Kelley echoed Krasnoo’s remarks.
“We don’t want people being convicted based solely on the word of somebody who’s getting great benefit from the Commonwealth,” Kelley said.
Citing the testimony of eyewitness Heury Baldera, who attended the Fayette Street cookout, Krasnoo also argued that the Commonwealth lacked sufficient eyewitness testimony. He argued that none of the three eyewitnesses from the party identified either Berberena or Carlisle as the shooters.
“Mr. Baldera said there were three males in that car with dreadlocks. Marcus Carlisle never had dreadlocks,” Krasnoo said. “You can’t grow dreadlocks overnight from July 3 to July 4.”
Tabit denied the motion, saying that he did not believe the law upheld his argument about the alleged implicit bias of an immunized witness.
The defense and the Commonwealth are expected to present their closing arguments at 9 a.m. Monday at Salem Superior Court.
