People v. QUANG MING TRAN

Three members of two Vietnamese gangs aligned with each other entered an apartment complex in search of a particular member of a rival Vietnamese gang who call themselves the "Oriental Play Boys." They found the rival gang member in a parking lot. When the rival gang member fled, one of the assault team, appellant Quang Minh Tran, shot at him and missed. Two of the team then bumped into an innocent bystander, carrying groceries. Tran exclaimed, mistaking the bystander for a member of the rival gang, "Hey, that's Play Boy." Then, as the bystander fled, Tran crouched on the sidewalk, took aim, and shot him.

This time his aim was better. The shot went through the bystander's back, exited his abdomen, then lodged in his arm. The bystander bled to death. When Tran learned a month later that the bystander was innocent of affiliation with the rival gang, he said, "Fuck it, like oh well."

Tran was later caught, tried, and sentenced. The constituent parts of his sentence are:

(1) 25 years to life for the murder of the bystander.

(2) 10 years for use of a firearm in the bystander's murder (the upper term).

(3) 3 years for a gang enhancement.

(4) Life with possibility of…