CASE OF INTEREST

Date: February 3, 2004
Case: People v. Long Phi Le
Contact: Anthony Ortiz, Gangs Unit, (916) 874-8686

District Attorney Jan Scully announced today the return of a First Degree Murder conviction in the case of the People v. Long Phi Le. In 1992 Long Phi Le and several of his associates instigated a fist fight with several brothers of the Nguyen family in a Stockton Boulevard cafe. After the participants to the scuffle were separated, the Nguyen family attempted to exit out the back door to avoid any further confrontation.

Long Phi Le left the cafe, ultimately returning with a handgun. Le exited his vehicle and approached the victim, Tot Van Nguyen. Le fired one shot at close range, inflicting an execution-type wound to the head of Nguyen. Long Phi Le fled the state and re-located in Ohio under an assumed identity. In July of 2002 Le was arrested in Ohio on a spousal abuse charge, and fingerprint comparisons confirmed his true identity and fugitive status.

The jury took less than 4 hours of deliberations to return it's verdict of First Degree Murder. Deputy District Attorney Anthony Ortiz, who tried the case, stated: "Members of the Nguyen family waited twelve years to have their day in court, and each family member who was a witness testified with such passion and conviction that the jury felt very confident in their verdict."

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