Man Convicted of First-Degree Murder for East Bay Shooting

A 26-year-old man has been convicted of first-degree murder for fatally shooting another man outside an apartment complex in unincorporated San Leandro four years ago in the culmination of an hours-long dispute over a potential marijuana sale. Jurors only deliberated for a day before announcing their verdict late Thursday against Leandre Paige for the fatal shooting of Daniel Bradford in the 1200 block of Kentwood Lane in the Ashland area of San Leandro at about 7:15 p.m. on June 14, 2011.

In addition to murder, jurors convicted Paige of using a gun to kill Bradford, who lived in unincorporated San Leandro, so that means he will face a term of 50 years to life in state prison when he’s sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Rolefson on Jan. 29.

In their closing arguments on Tuesday, prosecutor Butch Ford and defense attorney Al Wax agreed on the facts in the case but disagreed about Paige’s culpability, with Ford saying Paige should be convicted of first-degree murder and Wax arguing that Paige should either be acquitted or convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Ford said Paige “brought a gun to a fistfight” and deliberately killed Bradford by firing six shots at him, hitting him four times.

But Wax said Paige should be found not guilty because he was defending the life of his friend, 26-year-old Dante Burch of Concord, with whom Bradford was fighting. Wax said Paige opened fire because Burch “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. But 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 at about 3 p.m. that day when Burch’s girlfriend, Alexis Johns, asked Bradford’s brother, Carlos Bradford, about buying some marijuana and the brother said he told her didn’t have any marijuana to sell. Burch became upset with Carlos Bradford and the two men got into a fight. An unknown person separated Burch and Bradford but Burch vowed to return with his “boys” and returned a short time later with several friends, including Paige, who 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, Ford said.

Paige testified on Monday 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. In his closing argument, 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.

Ford said Paige pulled a gun from his waistband and fired six shots at Bradford, four of which struck him. Bradford was pronounced dead at Eden Medical Center a short time later. 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 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. 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, who was present at both fatal shootings, 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. Wax declined to comment today on the verdict against Paige.

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