Attorneys Disagree About Man's Culpability in Fatal Shooting in 2011

A prosecutor and a defense attorney agreed today that Leandre Paige fatally shot 26-year-old Darrell Bradford in front of a group of people outside an apartment complex in unincorporated San Leandro four years ago but disagreed about his legal culpability.

Prosecutor Butch Ford told jurors in his closing argument that Paige, 26, should be convicted of first-degree murder “because he brought a gun to a fistfight” and deliberately killed Bradford by firing six shots at him, hitting him four times. But Paige’s lawyer, Al Wax, said Paige should be found not guilty of all charges because he was defending the life of a friend with whom Bradford was fighting.

Wax said Paige opened fire because his friend, 26-year-old Dante Burch of Concord, “was in imminent danger of suffering great bodily injury or being killed” by Bradford, who he said had just “sucker-punched” Burch in a confrontation at the apartment complex in the 1200 block of Kentwood Lane in the Ashland area of San Leandro at about 7:15 p.m. on June 14, 2011.

Wax said, “There’s little dispute about the facts, but we disagree on how to apply the law to the facts.”

Ford said Burch wasn’t in immediate danger because Bradford had only punched him once and there is no evidence that Bradford was armed. According to the evidence in Paige’s trial, the shooting was the aftermath of a quarrel that started earlier in the day when Burch’s girlfriend asked Bradford’s brother, Carlos Bradford, about buying some marijuana and the brother said he didn’t have any marijuana to sell, prompting Burch and Carlos Bradford to get into a fight. Ford said Burch left the scene but returned a short time later with several friends, including Paige, who he said was armed with a gun. Ford said Burch and Carlos Bradford resumed fighting but then Daniel Bradford drove up to the scene and joined the fray, which was watched by about 20 people, by punching Burch.

The prosecutor said Paige testified that he was prepared to back up Burch in the fight but when he saw how big Daniel Bradford was he decided to shoot him instead of fighting him. Ford said, “His (Paige’s) mentality was that if he’s too big, you shoot him.”

But Wax said Paige thought Daniel Bradford had a gun because he had opened the trunk of his car before he joined the fight. Wax said, “If you see somebody go into their trunk you don’t know what they’re getting” and said Paige was afraid because he’d been shot in the past.

However, Ford said even if Bradford had been armed it would have been difficult to hold a gun and fight at the same time. Ford said, “You take your gun off when you fight” and said Burch had made such a statement when he testified against Paige last week. Burch was also charged with murder in connection with Bradford’s death even though he didn’t fire any shots because investigators believe his actions set off the chain of events that led to the death. Burch was scheduled to stand trial with Paige but last week he pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against Paige.

If a judge determines after the trial that Paige’s testimony was true his conviction will be reduced to voluntary manslaughter and he will be sentenced to 9 years in state prison. Jurors began deliberating Paige’s fate this afternoon.

Paige could face 50 years to life in state prison if he’s convicted of first-degree murder and using a gun to kill Bradford. Paige is also charged with murder and the special circumstance of committing a murder during the course of a robbery for the shooting death of 35-year-old Eric Lamont Franklin in the 700 block of Eagle Avenue in Alameda in a separate incident on Sept. 11, 2010. He faces a trial in that case sometime next year.

Daquan Lane, a 25-year-old Oakland man, was also charged in connection with Franklin’s death but last month he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for agreeing to testify against Paige in both of his trials, although the two shooting incidents are unrelated. Lane said at Paige’s trial last week that Paige had been his best friend, but he then identified Paige as the man who fatally shot Darrell Bradford.

Paige had been at large since the 2010 shooting in Alameda but was arrested at the Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento on March 2014 for allegedly being a passenger in a stolen rental car. Sacramento police later discovered that Paige was wanted on a murder warrant in Alameda County and extradited him to that county. Ford said Paige’s three and a half years on the run show that he’s conscious of his guilt. Ford said that when Paige was on the witness stand on Monday he was “smiling and joking” and testified that he was good at evading the police.

By Bay City News

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