Trial begins for bookie who shot and killed man at Westminster club

Trial began Tuesday for a bookie who shot an alleged loan shark to death in the parking lot of a busy Westminster club and injured a second man.

That Minh Quang Tran shot and killed Huy Phan during a Halloween party at Club Bleu in the early morning hours of Oct. 28, 2017 was not in dispute during opening statements in his trial at the Orange County Superior Courthouse in Santa Ana.

Both Deputy District Attorney Janine Madera and Tran’s attorney, Cameron Talley, described Tran as a bookie who took in illegal gambling bets, and who was owed money by Phan.

They both acknowledged that Phan had a history of domestic violence, with Talley describing Phan as a “gun-toting loan shark.”

Instead, the trial is expected to focus on whether Tran ambushed an unsuspecting Phan, as argued by the prosecutor, or whether Tran acted in self-defense by shooting Phan as he pulled a gun from his pocket, as the defense attorney contended.

Both men had previously been in a relationship with the same woman, the attorneys said. Phan had robbed the woman’s brother, was known to carry a gun and had threatened to kill Tran, Talley told jurors.

Security footage from outside the club showed Tran pulling out a gun, walking over toward Phan and firing six shots from the revolver.

The security cameras did not capture Phan in the moments leading up to the shooting.

Phan was struck in his face and a shoulder. A second man suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Madera said there was no argument in the club or confrontation between Phan and Tran. Instead, Tran appeared to decide “out of the blue” to shoot Phan, the prosecutor said.

“He was gunned down, shot in the face when he was smoking a cigarette and didn’t even see the defendant coming,” Madera told jurors.

After his arrest, Tran told officers that Phan had “ripped off a lot of people” and “deserved to die,” Madera said.

Tran’s attorney compared the shooting to something out of “an old Clint Eastwood movie,” arguing that his client acted in self-defense. Phan said an expletive in Vietnamese aimed at Tran and reached into his pocket before Tran opened fire, Talley told jurors.

“It is better to be tried by 12 than carried by six,” Talley said. “This is a case about a gun fight, and Mr. Tran won.”

Talley acknowledged that no weapon was found on or near Phan’s body. He told jurors that it is possible that Phan was bluffing when he reached into his pocket, or that someone took a gun away from the scene before officers arrived.

Talley added that when Tran was speaking to detectives after his arrest, Tran had admitted to being suicidal and having taken Xanax in an attempt to overdose. Tran is expected to testify during his trial, his attorney said.

Along with the murder charge, Tran is also facing a felony assault count along with enhancements for the use of a firearm. A second man, Hung Khac Chau, is accused of acting as an accessory after the fact, and is awaiting trial.