FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 9, 2010
CONTACT:
ADA Brian Buckelew, DA Harris’ Office (415) 553-1383
Erica Derryck, DA Harris’ Office (415) 553-1167
JURY CONVICTS REALITY-TV CONTESTANT OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER
SAN FRANCISCO, CA –District Attorney Kamala D. Harris announced today that defendant Jamal Rashead Trulove, 29, was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The jury also found "true" the allegation that the defendant personally inflicted death or great bodily injury on the victim by using a gun.
"This case could never have come about were it not for the brave eyewitness who stepped forward from the crowd, alone, and told police what she saw," said District Attorney Kamala D. Harris. "Her bravery, along with Linda Allen’s tenacious prosecution, led to justice for this victim and the community."
The trial began Wednesday, January 13, 2010 before the Honorable Carol Yaggy of Department 28 of the San Francisco Superior Court (CN 2391686). The trial concluded February 2, 2010 and the jury deliberated for four days before reaching today’s verdict.
Trulove is charged with killing Seu Kuka, a 28-year-old San Francisco man, by shooting him to death on the 100 block of Blythedale Avenue in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood of San Francisco on July 23, 2007. After the shooting, police were unable to revive Kuka and pronounced him dead at the scene. The defendant was arrested in October 2008 in Seaside, California on a $5 million murder warrant.
The prosecution of Trulove was based on the sole cooperative eyewitness to the slaying. The witness testified that she saw the victim chasing Trulove’s brother up the street in the Sunnydale Housing project. The witness testified that she saw the victim run by Trulove and knock Trulove to the ground. Trulove stood up, according to the testimony, and shot the victim three times in the back. He then ran up to the victim and shot him 6 times in the head at close range. The eyewitness testified that "approximately 25 people" saw the slaying, but she was the only one to step forward and testify.
In 2007, Trulove appeared on the VH1 reality-television program "I Love New York 2," which aired from October 2007 through December 2007. The show is premised on a competition among several suitors who competed for the affections of Tiffany "New York" Pollard, herself a veteran of reality-television programs. At the conclusion of each episode, Pollard dismissed a handful of contestants. In the final episode, Pollard selected a final suitor. Trulove, who went by the nicknames "Milliown," "True," and "Jamal Bryant," appeared in the first episode of the series. In that first episode, Trulove got into an argument with another contestant and at the conclusion of the episode Pollard dismissed him from the show.
Trulove is scheduled to be sentenced on March 19, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. in Department 28 of the San Francisco Superior Court. He faces a minimum of 50 years to life in state prison.
The arrest of Jamal Trulove is the result of an investigation by San Francisco Police Department Homicide Inspectors Michael Johnson and Maureen D’Amico. Assistant District Attorney Linda Allen did a remarkable job prosecuting the case.
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