The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office issued an arrest warrant for an Oakland homicide detective Monday. According to Oaklandside, the detective — Phong Tran — is accused of paying a witness to lie in a murder case that resulted in two men receiving life sentences.
A copy of the warrant was posted by KTVU. It says that Tran is suspected of several felony charges, including perjury and threatening a witness. In a statement to SFGATE, Tran’s lawyer — Andrew Ganz of the Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver law firm in San Francisco — said the charges don’t have merit.
Oaklandside reported that the charges against Tran stem from the murder of Charles Butler, who was shot and killed in his car in Oakland in December 2011. The outlet reported that Tran suspected Giovonte Douglas and Cartier Hunter of killing Butler but didn’t have enough evidence to arrest the two men. However, in 2013, a witness came forward and claimed that she saw Hunter shoot Butler and flee in a car driven by Douglas.
The two men were convicted of Butler’s murder and sentenced to life in prison based on the witness’s testimony. But in 2021, the witness reportedly withdrew her testimony and told Douglas’ attorney that she had received payments from Tran and had been pressured by Tran into lying about what she saw.
Douglas’ attorney filed a motion to have his client’s conviction overturned in 2022. Oaklandside reported that, in response to that motion, Tran admitted to paying the witness but denied any further wrongdoing. The convictions of both Hunter and Douglas have since been overturned, the outlet reported.
In his statement to SFGATE, Tran’s lawyer, Ganz, took shots at District Attorney Pamela Price, a progressive who has been the focus of criticism from certain journalists in recent months.
“The DA treats murderers like heroes, looking for every possible excuse to keep them out of jail. Yet, real heroes such as Oakland Homicide Detective Tran — who has dedicated and risked his life to try to keep the city safe — are treated like criminals,” Ganz said in his statement. “He is being prosecuted for having the audacity to investigate, arrest and bring to justice the killers who terrorize Oakland. These charges are baseless and should gravely concern every Alameda County resident that desires a truly equitable criminal justice system.”
