THE CRIME:

On May 25, 1999, Michael Duc Ta and two other boys got into "words" with a couple of other boys. Duc and his friends got into a car, then dropped the little brother of one of the boys off at his home and picked up another boy that Duc didn't know.  Unbeknownst to Duc, this third boy brought a concealed weapon - a gun - into the car with him.

The three boys drove around and noticed the other car with the boys in it.  The car was parked in an alley.  They drove down the alley and according to Duc, the boy in the back seat threw a gun into the front seat.  The gun landed in Duc's lap.  Duc admitted to picking up the gun and throwing it off his lap.  The passenger in the front seat took the gun and fired 5 rounds at the other vehicle.  Duc panicked, slammed on the gas and crashed into the other vehicle, pinning that vehicle between a telephone pole and the car Duc was driving.  Duc then backed up and left the scene.  The gun was a .45 caliber, with 8-rounds, but they had only expelled 5 bullets.  No one in the victim vehicle was hit, nor were they injured by the defendants in any way.

All three boys were subsequently arrested and were initially charged with Assault with a Deadly Weapon.  The D.A. was then replaced by a hard-core gang unit D.A., who changed the charge to 1st Degree Attempted Murder.  The D.A. would not allow any of the defendants to be separated out, but forced them to go to trial together.  All three boys were convicted and sentenced to 35 years to life.

PRIOR TO TRIAL:

Duc was to be tried as an adult:

As a 16 year old and given that Duc was charged prior to the passage of Propostion 21, he had to undergo a fitness hearing to determine if he was "fit" to be tried as a juvenile or if he would be prosecuted in adult court.  

Duc underwent this fitness hearing and due to his intelligence level, leadership presence and the seriousness of the charge as assigned by the District Attorney, he was found to be unfit and was tried as an adult.

Duc was offered several deals, including the following:

30 Years Determinate Sentence Duc refused this offer.
27 Years Determinate Sentence Duc tried to take this deal, but was
told it was off the table.
15 Years To Life  Duc also tried to take this deal, but
was denied because his
co -defendants refused to take it.

EVIDENCE:

  • Impartial witness testified that he did not see Duc handle the gun.  He heard shots and came out of his house onto the porch.
     
  • No GSR (Gun Shot Residue) was found on Duc, nor were any prints taken from the gun showing that he handled it.  Even so, Duc received a gun enhancement charge, which added 20 years to his sentence.


GANG ISSUE:

The state brought in a gang expert (at the time of the trial), who stated that Duc was "probably a gang member by now".

  • While there was tangible evidence that Duc's two co-defendants were gang members ( i.e. photos of them flashing gang signs, tattoos, police field investigation cards, etc.) there was none of this kind of evidence on Duc.
     

  • Even though there was none of this evidence on Duc, the police gang expert still testified that he was in a gang.

This officer had previous extensive interactions with Duc.

  • The jury was led to believe that this officer had knowledge and contact with Duc from a prior case, however, she actually knew him as the victim of child abuse.
     

  • Although it didn't come out in trial, this officer was more than an Asian gang expert to Duc.  She met him when he was 14 years old.  This officer was the on  duty police woman the night Duc called the police for help.  His father had held a gun to his head and threatened to kill him. Beaten so severely, Duc was temporarily taken away from his family and his father was sent to jail.
     

  • Duc was trying to avoid the gang life and asked this officer for help.  She became a mentor to him, helping him with his math homework, inviting him over to her house for barbecues, keeping tabs on him to help him avoid recruitment by gangs.
     

  • In the time of this friendship, this officer began asking Duc questions about gang members he knew and what they were up to. She was attempting to get inside information on their activities, so Duc began feeling pressured and did not want to turn over on the people he knew. He pulled back from his friendship with Linda at that time.