Oakland police homicide investigator Phong Tran, who faces perjury and bribery charges, has accused former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price of racial bias in bringing the case, The Oaklandside reports.
Tran's attorney, Andrew Ganz, filed a Racial Justice Act motion for discovery late last month. It was presented to Judge Scott Patton at a closed hearing on Oct. 2. The motion asks the DA's office, now run by Ursula Jones Dickson, to hand over records and data that Ganz argues could show Tran was singled out because he is Asian. Patton sealed the filings and is expected to rule soon on whether there is enough evidence to order the disclosure.
Background
- Tran was charged after the star witness in a 2016 murder trial recanted in 2021, saying he had paid her thousands of dollars before she testified. The two men convicted in that killing were freed the next year.
- Other cases Tran investigated have since been reexamined. SFist, citing the East Bay Times, reported last year that the cases led to dismissals and plea deals.
- Tran has pleaded not guilty and denies the allegations.
What the motion seeks
According to quotes from a prosecution filing, the motion seeks "data relevant to prior accusations of anti-Asian discrimination" by Price and data on how her administration treated people of other races accused of similar crimes. It also appears to reference lawsuits by two Asian American former employees of the DA's office, Patricia Lee and Craig Chew, who alleged Price fired them in part because of their race.
Deputy DA Darby Williams, who is prosecuting the case, called the claims unsupported "loose conjecture" that could delay the trial until next year. The DA's office declined to comment to The Oaklandside.