OAKLAND — Two men who’d been convicted of murder and sentenced to life were quietly released from prison last year, after a key witness in their trial signed a sworn declaration accusing an Oakland detective of paying her tens of thousands of dollars to lie on the stand.
The woman’s explosive accusations resulted in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office agreeing to concede a defense motion dismissing the charges against two Oakland men who had been accused of fatally shooting a man over a parking dispute. Prosecutors only agreed to dismiss the case after the investigator, Oakland police Detective Phong Tran, admitted in court papers to paying the woman in cash, but claimed the amount was a fraction of the $30,000 she claims to have received from him.
Tran, a longtime detective in the homicide unit, was placed on administrative leave last year related to the fallout from the murder case but is back investigating cases.
Oakland police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither has the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
The dismissal — reported first by The Oaklandside — centers on the 2011 fatal shooting of Charles Butler Jr., a 23-year-old recent graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy who was allegedly gunned down while arguing with his killers about a parking spot near his North Oakland home. Giovonte Douglas, 31, and 34-year-old Cartier Hunter, were arrested three years later. They were convicted of murder in 2016.
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