Judge orders new trial in decade-old murder case, as scrutiny of Oakland detective grows

OAKLAND An Alameda County judge this month overturned another decade-old murder conviction that was secured with the help of Phong Tran the veteran Oakland homicide detective accused of coercing and paying off bystanders throughout his prolific career The ruling by Judge Thomas Stevens marks the third upended guilty verdict tied to the longtime Oakland police officer who is awaiting trial on several bribery and perjury charges The burgeoning disgrace has already led to multiple lenient plea deals and development dismissals tied to the detective s work along with a review of more than homicide cases he either led or touched The latest decision means an Oakland man -year-old Steven Buggs will get a new trial in the September slaying of his childhood friend Lester Young who was shot dead inside Young s East Oakland home Earlier this fall Judge Stevens ordered an evidentiary hearing over suggests that Tran s inspection was guided by stereotypes of Black men potentially violating the state s Racial Justice Act The law has sought to address racial bias throughout the criminal justice system by allowing defendants a new avenue to challenge certain prosecutions and convictions While reviewing the killing Tran allegedly reported Buggs that an all-white jury could see him as a big scary Black guy and that Buggs might as well squeeze that noose a little tighter if he didn t confess to the shooting according to court filings In a report Alameda County s residents defender urged District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson to dismiss the development and release Buggs from custody instantly He is now incarcerated at the state prison in Vacaville How much more does the prosecution need in order to do the right thing here solicited the citizens defender Brendon Woods He added that Tran s dishonesty and racism have permanently tainted this affair I hope the area is paying attention to how this District Attorney s Office is handling this and other cases Woods declared Attempts to reach Tran s attorney were not at once accomplished Wednesday The accusations in the Buggs affair mark the latest fallout of felony perjury and bribery charges filed against Tran in which claim the detective paid off and coerced a witness in a murder incident Convictions against the two men in that matter both of whom are Black were later quietly overturned by the Alameda County District Attorney s Office after a key witness claimed she received thousands of dollars from Tran to lie on the stand Stevens ultimately detected that the sheer amount of alleged misconduct by Tran all of which had transpired before the jury rendered their verdict in left him no choice but to order a new trial To toss the conviction the judge commented in a court filing that he only needed to find it was more likely than not that at least one juror would have changed their mind had they known about the growing number of misconduct assertions against Tran The judge cited the same claims at the heart of Tran s charges His scenario stems from the murder of -year-old Charles Butler Jr who was fatally shot while arguing over a parking spot near his North Oakland home Convictions against two men Giovonte Douglas and Cartier Hunter were upended when an unhoused woman explained investigators that she allegedly received thousands of dollars from Tran to testify against the men The payments included a cash payment that Tran allegedly made approximately minutes after the woman finished testifying at Douglas and Hunter s murder trial according to court testimony Stevens also cited more charges in two other homicide cases during which Tran allegedly again paid off spectators to testify and use statements he fed to them They include the murder investigations into Ezell Edwards and Anthony Hoskins who were convicted in the killing of Brandon McDaniel over an alleged federal income tax fraud scheme In that affair a man claimed Tran offered him money in exchange for favorable testimony according to Stevens ruling Stevens also referenced the prosecution of Darius Esters who was jailed in the killing of Tattiaunn Turner outside an East Oakland store Another witness declared she received money from Tran and felt pressured and bribed to falsely blame Esters for the killing Stevens ruling explained While any one message standing alone might not tip the balance their cumulative force undermines the reliability of the verdict Stevens wrote in his ruling Tran s credibility took center stage during Buggs trial in when prosecutors and defense attorneys sparred over the detective s methods for identifying individuals in the event Tran who had been a homicide detective for just a year while studying Young s death originally obtained an arrest warrant for another man after the only other individual in the room during the killing identified that person as the shooter The detective s focus later shifted to Buggs after receiving a tip from either an anonymous caller or confidential informant court records show In a incident where the jurors were concerned about the accuracy of the identifications and the integrity of Tran s methods evidence that Tran had allegedly engaged in misconduct in other investigations would likely have carried weight Stevens wrote The ruling comes as Tran s criminal scenario moves at a glacial pace An Alameda County judge in June identified that enough evidence existed for the event to go before a jury However no trail date has been set And questions have swirled about the affair s future under District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson herself a former judge who has worked to unwind the legacy of her recalled predecessor Pamela Price Often that work has centered on ending the prosecutions of law enforcement officers which had been a pillar of Price s tenure Jones Dickson has dismissed criminal cases against several law enforcement officers charged in at least two deaths at the Santa Rita Jail Just this week Jones Dickson s office also requested a judge to dismiss the manslaughter circumstance against Jason Fletcher in the shooting death of Steven Taylor The Alameda County District Attorney s Office did not respond to a request by this news outlet for comment on Stevens rulings Jakob Rodgers is a senior urgent news reporter Call text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at - - or email him at jrodgers bayareanewsgroup com