Legal News

San Jose sees beginnings of its first federal death penalty trial

By Richard Binder

For the next six months, 35-year-old Anh The Duong will face a sweeping racketeering indictment accusing him of leading a violent gang that carried out murders and robberies throughout California and Nevada during the 1990s. It will be the first federal death penalty trial in Silicon Valley history.

Another wrinkle: Duong is already on death row, for murdering four people in an El Monte pool hall in 1999. He was sentenced in 2003.  But current Attorney General Eric Holder and Justice Department officials decided to seek a federal death sentence for Duong in the San Jose racketeering case. Federal death row cases move through the appeals process much swifter.

The indictment includes mention of eight murders, including the 1997 slaying of 66-year-old Chau Quach, allegedly gunned down by Duong during the robbery of a San Jose grocery store. The racketeering charges also include the 1998 shooting of Hai Pin Tsai during a botched robbery of Wintec Industries, a Fremont computer parts maker. It also charges Duong with orchestrating nearly a dozen armed robberies, including a $2 million heist of a Milpitas jewelry store.

Jury selection will take place over the next three weeks, with the evidence portion of the trial expected to begin sometime in mid-to-late-March. 

Full story here.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on March 02, 2010 (boomark / email).