Arrest Warrant Issued for Oakland Police Officer for Perjury and Witness Threats

https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1608581?s=01

Oakland police officer, Phong Tran, is facing an arrest warrant issued by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office for multiple charges, including felony perjury and threatening a witness. The warrant, a no-bail one, requires Tran to surrender within 48 hours.

According to sources, the charges against Tran stem from perjury allegations during a 2011 murder trial. Two men were convicted in that case, but their convictions were overturned after a witness recanted her testimony and accused Tran of paying her before the trial. The witness testified in court that she saw the two men kill the victim, Charles Butler, but later recanted her testimony.

Court documents revealed that the witness received thousands of dollars from a witness support program and even money from Tran himself. Tran has worked on hundreds of cases in the past decade, and the legitimacy of those cases could be called into question.

Bill Hing, a law professor at the University of San Francisco, said, "There's a very good likelihood that other cases will be dropped as well. It depends on what this officer did on the various homicide cases. If his investigations involved coercion and bribery on a regular basis, well those cases are going to be dismissed."

Late on Monday night, the Oakland Police Department acknowledged that an arrest warrant had been issued for one of its officers. However, they referred all comments and questions to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, which has yet to comment on the matter.

This case is just one example of the ongoing issues with police misconduct and corruption in the United States. It highlights the importance of ensuring accountability and transparency in law enforcement agencies to maintain public trust and confidence in the justice system.