Baker's Dozen in Court

Everyone agrees – the defense, the prosecution, and lawyers for the Baker’s Dozen – that this case is headed to trial. Today began what’s expected to be three days of a preliminary hearing into whether Richard Aicardi and Brian Dwyer of San Francisco should stand trial for felony assault and battery.

The Baker’s Dozen is Yale’s a cappella group that was touring the country sixteen months ago. They were the guests of honor at a New Year’s Eve party, but several of them were beaten badly as they left the home on 15th Avenue at California Street.

This was not a good day for Rich Aicardi. Three Yale students identified him as the aggressor that day, the instigator. William Bailey testified he tried to calm down Aicardi. Aicardi was wearing a Santa hat and a Hawaiian shirt, and Bailey came from Hawaii so he thought they could share some common ground. Bailey testified. “I said, ‘Come on, can we just leave? Can you stay inside? We’re just going to go.” Bailey thought he had an agreement with Aicardi, but as he walked out, Bailey said he saw a van with Aicardi’s friends pull up and unload. (It’s a fact that Aicardi used his cell phone to call in reinforcements; a surveillance camera caught the van at the scene.) Bailey realized that Aicardi was following him out the door: “I put my hands up and I said, ‘Let’s not do this.’” Bailey testified Aicardi hit him in the jaw with a closed fist.

Another Yale Student, Bryan Bibler, testified he saw Rich Aicardi punch Sharyar Aziz and knock him to the ground. Several witnesses report seeing a group of 8-10 young men punching and kicking Aziz. He was the most seriously injured of the Baker’s Dozen, with a jaw broken in two places.

Bibler also said he saw four or five men kicking and punching Evan Gogel while he was on the ground, delivering very hard “soccer kicks” to his head. Gogel suffered a concussion, along with scrapes and bruises.

One of the reasons this story gained national attention – we first reported that the tensions began after the Baker’s Dozen sang the national anthem at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Witnesses told us, Rich Aicardi began making fun of the singers in their uniforms – khaki pants, white shirts, ties and blazers.

We learned more about that at today’s prelim. The Yale students explained it’s a Baker’s Dozen tradition at parties. On the hour, they stand in a circle, locking arms with a drink in their hands. They basically do “the wave” with each member taking a drink. Then, they sing the national anthem. Today, defense attorneys played up the fact that the Yale students had been drinking that night, but the Yale students’ attorneys say it doesn’t matter what happened inside the house – that by the time a Yale student was on the ground in the street in a fetal position, with a gang punching and kicking him, a crime had been committed.

We first broke this story in January of 2007 and have been following developments along the way. Here’s a rundown of our coverage with links, if you’d like to explore the issues further.

STORIES:

1/8/07 Yale Choir Assaulted; No Arrests By SFPD

1/10/07 SFPD Under Fire Over Yale Choir Assault

1/11/07 Newsom Responds To Choir Assault Case

1/12/07 11 Days Later, SFPD Interviews Yale Choir

1/16/07 Police Present Choir Assault Case To D.A.

1/17/07 Witness Account Of Attack On Yale Choir

2/12/07 Yale Families Demand Action From Marines

2/13/07 Exclusive: D.A. Discusses Choir Assault Case

2/16/07 SFPD Completes Choir Attack Investigation

3/5/07 Charges Filed In Yale Choir Attack

3/6/07 Brian Dwyer Self-Surrenders In Choir Assault Case

3/7/07 Richard Aicardi Surrenders In Choir Assault Case

3/8/07 Choir Assault Victim's Father Face To Face With Aicardi

3/12/07 Victim's Father "Extraordinarily Disappointed" D.A. Refuses To Meet With Him

3/13/07 Lawsuit Filed In Baker's Dozen Case

4/9/07 2 Accused In Baker's Dozen Beating Appear In Court

BLOGS:

1/09/07 Outrage Over Yale Attack

1/11/07 It's Just A Question: Mayor Newsom Responds to Question About Drinking

1/18/07 Don't Shoot the Messenger

2/12/07 Baker’s Dozen Developments: Marine Involved in Assault

2/14/07 Marine Involved in Yale Choir Incident

3/6/07 Now and Then: Gavin Newsom on the Yale Choir Beating

3/06/07 Two Charged, Yale Parents Disappointed

Comments

[dan]

The boy with the broken jaw only got into Yale because his father went. After he graduates he almost certainly has a high paying job waiting for him at his father's company. He is going to have a happy affluent life, a lot different from mine and from most peoples, not from hard work but because of his father. I am glad he got his jaw broken and I hope it isn't the last time. Why Gonzalez thinks he should be defending him is a mystery.

[dan]

Further, I think Matt Gonzalez has lost his mind for becoming involved in a richboy catfight. Gonzalez used to fight for the poor and deserving. He was a lot better at that imho.

[Shrink]

"The boy with the broken jaw only got into Yale because his father went." "I am glad he got his jaw broken and I hope it isn't the last time."

dan, you are not right in the head.

[bg]

Let us hope this is the last time the students of SH are smeared by you Dan. Get a grip, IT WAS A FIGHT AND THE Yale boys can't fight. BOO HOO. If they had won we would not have wasted tax payers dollars. FIND SOME BETTER STORIES. I am sure I am not the only one who has given up on ABC Gossip.