Verdict Reached In Berkeley Shooting Case

BERKELEY, CA — An ex-felon was convicted Tuesday of two counts of attempted murder and other charges for shooting his ex-girlfriend and a male friend as they sat in a car in Berkeley three years ago.

Jurors only deliberated for a day before announcing their verdict against Anthony Burton, 47, 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.

Burton, who faces a lengthy state prison term when he's sentenced on July 31, was also convicted of corporal injury to a relationship partner, assault with a semiautomatic weapon, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon.

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.

Alameda County prosecutor Glenn Kim alleged in his closing argument on Monday 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 said 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.

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. The defense lawyer said 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.

However, Kim said the other man and Burton's ex-girlfriend weren't armed.

Under cross-examination by Kim last week, Burton admitted that his ex-girlfriend never asked him to follow her or protect her.

Burton also admitted that the night before the Berkeley shooting, he had used the tracking device to follow his ex-girlfriend to a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in San Jose, where he had found her talking to a male friend.

Burton's ex-girlfriend and the other man both survived their injuries and testified at his trial, but she's 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.

— Bay City News

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