Politics & Government
Berkeley Shooting Sentence: Ex-Felon To Spend Decades In Prison
The man claimed that he was trying to protect his ex-girlfriend when he shot her and another man.
OAKLAND, CA — An ex-felon who claims he was only trying to protect his ex-girlfriend was sentenced on Wednesday to 45 years to life in state prison for shooting her and her new male friend as they sat in a car in Berkeley three years ago.
Anthony Burton, 48, was convicted on July 2 of two counts of attempted murder and other charges for shooting his ex-girlfriend and the other man as they sat in a car on Tremont Street, near the Ashby BART station, at about 1 a.m. on March 16, 2016.
Alameda County prosecutors said Burton wasn't supposed to own guns because he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in Santa Clara County in 1992.
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Prosecutor Glenn Kim alleged in his closing argument in the trial that Burton carried out the shooting because "his manhood was threatened" since his ex-girlfriend was with a different man.
Kim said, "Seeing her with a different man was threatening to him."
But Burton's lawyer Richard Ortega told jurors Burton should be found not guilty of attempted murder because he fired shots in self-defense since he thought his ex-girlfriend was in danger when he found her in a car with a strange man after midnight.
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Ortega said Burton "wanted to make sure she was not in danger" and had used a tracking device to find her.Ortega said Burton opened fire because the man his girlfriend was with had reached down to grab something in their car and Burton thought he was reaching for a weapon.
Burton "reasonably believed that the immediate use of force was necessary" to defend against the possibility that the other man would harm Burton or his ex-girlfriend, Ortega said.
However, Kim said the other man and Burton's ex-girlfriend weren't armed.
Burton's ex-girlfriend and the other man both survived their injuries and testified against him but she's permanently blind in her left eye as a result of being shot in her left temple.
Burton was arrested on April 19, 2016, after an automated license plate reader tracked him to a Denny's restaurant parking lot near Sacramento and police found him sleeping in his car there.
In a letter to Alameda County Superior Court Judge Andrew Steckler, who sentenced him, Burton wrote, "I am a good man who goes above and beyond for the ones I love and hold dear."
Burton said, "I would give life and limb to be sure that everyone I care about is safe and secure, and like an off-duty police officer I tend to carry that badge of concern for the safety of others wherever I go."
Burton noted that he studied to be a private investigator and worked as a security guard at a San Jose nightclub and said the only reason he tracked down his ex-girlfriend on the night of the shooting was "she was acting suicidal."
Burton told Steckler that he shouldn't face a long prison term because, "I am needed far more in society spreading the word of God and being a pillar to my family."
Burton wrote, "I genuinely thought I was acting in self-defense and I'm asking you to spare my life."
In addition to two counts of attempted murder, Burton was convicted of domestic battery, two counts of assault with a firearm, shooting into an occupied vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
— Bay City News
