One Guilty, One Mistrial in Killing of Santa Clara Medic
Sept. 14--OAKLAND -- Even his own confession wasn't enough to convince a jury that Christian Burton was the trigger man responsible for the 2013 murder of Santa Clara County paramedic Quinn Boyer.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay declared a mistrial for Burton, 18, on Monday, while a second teen, David McNeal, 17, was found guilty of murder for being an accomplice in the slaying, and other charges, stunning prosecutors and vindicating Burton's defense attorney after the jury spent five days deliberating the teenagers' fate in a high-profile murder trial.
Jurors were split 7-5 in favor of convicting Burton and were unable to reconcile, they told the judge.
Burton's court-appointed lawyer, Ernie Castillo, said jurors rejected Burton's dubious confession to authorities, pointing to his low IQ and also the low credibility of five teenage co-conspirators, three of whom already pleaded guilty to Boyer's murder in juvenile court. The six teens' ages ranged between 13 and 16 at the time of the killing.
The other teens said Burton shot Boyer in the head on April 2, 2013, during a rowdy, two-day crime spree that included two carjackings, the murder of Boyer and the wounding of a 14-year-old Frick Middle School student shot in the buttocks.
Burton, of Oakland, had been charged with one count -- murder in the course of an attempted carjacking. McNeal, also of Oakland, was convicted of murder in the course of an attempted carjacking, a separate carjacking that occurred a couple hours after Boyer was shot and assault with a deadly weapon for shooting the middle school boy the following day.
The prosecution argued at trial that McNeal was an active participant and provided the gun used in Boyer's murder and the crime spree. McNeal told police he got the gun from his cousin, and after shooting the 14-year-old, gave it to his aunt. The aunt denied the story, and the gun has never been found.
McNeal's attorney argued at trial there was no evidence that McNeal knew the intent of the gunman who killed Boyer.
Boyer had pulled over on Keller Avenue in the Oakland hills to send a text message when the teens pulled up in a stolen car and tried to carjack him, said prosecutor Glenn Kim. All of the teens said that Nazhee Flowers and Burton got out of the car to approach Boyer and that Burton shot him, Kim argued.
But Castillo said his client was implicated by the group because he was an outsider, while the others were friends. And the only independent witness said Boyer's shooter was wearing clothing that matched what was worn by then-15-year-old Nazhee Flowers. Flowers pleaded guilty as an adult to carjacking and received a 15-year prison sentence.
"I hope this sends a loud message to the district attorney about how this case was charged," Castillo said after court. "(Flowers) is getting away with murder."
The three teens who pleaded guilty as accomplices to murder in juvenile court will be free before they're 25, Castillo said, but Burton faced the possibility of life in prison without parole.
Prosecutor Kim seemed perplexed as he read the jury's note before the verdict was read in court on Monday and afterward declined to comment. Boyer's family was in court but also declined to comment.
One juror told this newspaper he initially thought Burton was guilty but was swayed after focusing on the details that pointed to Burton's innocence.
Police couldn't find Burton's fingerprints in the getaway car after Boyer's murder, said the juror, but found prints of the other five teens, adding to Castillo's argument that his client wasn't in the car.
And video evidence showed Burton wasn't involved in an earlier carjacking about 45 minutes before Boyer's killing, the juror said.
"For somebody who didn't want to be involved in a carjacking, suddenly he's committing a murder? It didn't add up," said the juror, who only provided the name Sanchez.
Sanchez, 25, said Burton's confession seemed off, as if he were retelling someone else's story. Burton told detectives he got the murder weapon from the trunk -- a fact no one else relayed, Sanchez said.
"That seems like something you would say because you think it's supposed to be true. You're supposed to bring the gun in the trunk," he said.
Burton is due in court again Sept. 28, and prosecutors could announce then whether they'll retry him on the murder charge. McNeal will be sentenced in December.
Castillo said he hopes prosecutors recognize the lack of strong evidence in the case, and the possibility that Burton wasn't the shooter, or even a willing accomplice.
He convinced Sanchez, who said some jurors felt empathy for Boyer's family after not convicting the alleged gunman.
"It does suck, because bottom line, someone was killed," Sanchez said. "But in my opinion, the person who did the crime won't get punished."
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