Crime

Appeals court upholds former Compton mayor’s conviction

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — A state appeals court panel has upheld former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley’s conviction for misappropriating and misusing taxpayer funds. In a ruling released late May 6, the three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected Bradley’s contention that insufficient evidence and incorrect jury instructions mandated reversal of his July 2017 conviction on the two felony counts.

Published

5 years ago

May 10, 2019

Wave Staff and Wire Reports

By Wave Staff and Wire Reports

COMPTON — A state appeals court panel has upheld former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley’s conviction for misappropriating and misusing taxpayer funds.

In a ruling released late May 6, the three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected Bradley’s contention that insufficient evidence and incorrect jury instructions mandated reversal of his July 2017 conviction on the two felony counts.

“We conclude reversal is not warranted,” the panel found in its 25-page ruling.

Bradley was sentenced in August 2017 to three years probation, along with a year in county jail that he had already served.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli suspended a three-year state prison term that Bradley will not have to serve if he complies with the terms of his probation. He cited Bradley’s age and lack of prior criminal history.

Bradley told reporters after the hearing that he was “very thankful” to the judge.

“You know, he looked at my age, my propensity to do wrong, which before this incident I had never even had a speeding ticket, and he said enough is enough and I’m thankful to him for that,” the then 59-year-old former mayor said.

Bradley questioned how much the District Attorney’s Office — which tried the case against him a second time after his 2004 conviction was overturned — spent “to come up with an outcome that says I’m prohibited from running for office.”

“I bet it was more than the alleged $6,500 that they say I misappropriated,” Bradley said. “In my opinion, just my humble opinion, the justice system has gotten way off track and certainly with the money that was expended to make a point with me because I am an outspoken African-American male who doesn’t bite his tongue could have been spent on some really important things.”

Bradley was found guilty in his second trial of one felony count each of misappropriation of public funds by a public officer and misuse of public funds by a public officer for personal gain.

He was first convicted in 2004, sentenced to three years in prison and then later moved to a halfway house. But his conviction was reversed in 2012 as a result of a California Supreme Court ruling involving crimes by public officials. While awaiting a retrial, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Aja Brown.

At his retrial, Bradley testified that he never used any city money for personal expenses. He insisted that any city dollars he spent were for the benefit of Compton.

During two days on the stand, the former mayor testified that he had played golf with officials in order to discuss several city projects, and bought golf clothing to look the part.

Deputy Public Defender Robert J. Hill told jurors that the charges against Bradley were “false.” He said his client acted openly and transparently and knew he was “under scrutiny.”

Deputy District Attorney Ana Lopez countered that Bradley’s spending was “purely personal” and offered “no public benefit.”

“The word here is accountability,” she told jurors in the retrial.

The prosecutor said Bradley clearly understood the rules, but that accountability for spending became “very relaxed” in Compton after the city council approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of city credit cards to council members without any public comment on the issue.

Bradley — who was born and raised in Compton — was a city councilman between 1991 and 1993 and mayor from 1993 until 2001.

This article originally appeared in the Wave Newspapers.

Wave Staff and Wire Reports

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Bay Area

Remembering Khadafy Washington: His Memory Has Inspired Hope and Healing in Oakland for 24 years

August marks the 24th anniversary of the shooting death of Khadafy Washington. Washington was only 18 years old when he was killed at McClymonds High School just months after his graduation in August 2000.

Published

1 week ago

October 1, 2024

Oakland Post

Marilyn Washington-Harris, posted 19 billboards around Oakland with the picture of her murdered son, Khadafy Washington, and the blaring question: Do You Know Who Killed Me?

By Brigitte Cook

August marks the 24th anniversary of the shooting death of Khadafy Washington.

Washington was only 18 years old when he was killed at McClymonds High School just months after his graduation in August 2000.

At McClymonds, Washington was the captain of the football team and a talented athlete who enjoyed working out. At 5’6,” he impressed his bigger and taller teammates with his ability to lift 350lbs and to toe-to-toe with them on the gridiron.

Preparing for the future, Washington enrolled in Laney College with dreams of continuing his football career and ultimately transferring to a college in Florida. However, those dreams were abruptly and violently ended.

The young athlete and rising star loved his family and friends, and they loved him, too — especially his sisters and his West Oakland community.

For 24 years now, Washington’s family has been searching for answers and struggling with deep sorrow and grief stemming from his tragic, senseless and untimely death. During the months following his murder, outraged and in pain, Washington’s mother, Marilyn Washington-Harris, posted 19 billboards around the city with his picture and the blaring question: Do You Know Who Killed Me?

Those signs were stark reminders to a city sometimes in denial that too many of its young men were dying violent deaths. Soon she was organizing marches to bring attention to Oakland’s problem with violence, and to the lasting pain families of victims endure. Privately, Washington-Harris would reach out to individual families in the immediate aftermath of a homicide, sending them mementos and reminders that they were not forgotten. In their weakest moments, she protected them from exploitation, scraped up funds for the mostly poor families so that they could bury their dead with dignity and grace, and continued to counsel and care for them as they tried to heal and recover.

As Washington-Harris’s mission grew and evolved, she founded the Khadafy Washington Foundation for Non-Violence to continue to support the thousands of family members of the well-over 2500 people that have been killed in Oakland since that fateful night in 2000.

Even though she has dedicated her life to helping and supporting those who have lost loved ones, Washington-Harris still struggles with the hurt and pain of losing her only son every day. She said, “It comes just like a storm – sometimes it comes quietly and sometimes it is raging. But it never goes away.”

Her plea is that those responsible for his murder be held accountable and her family, and all families like hers, receive the justice they deserve.

Washington-Harris is a founding member of the Family Support Advocates with the Violence Prevention Coalition, advocating for legislation and policies to support all crime victims and especially family members of homicide victims.

FAMILY SUPPORT ADVOCACY TASK FORCE

The mission of the Family Support Advocacy Task Force, a committee of the Violence Prevention Coalition, is to advocate for local, state and federal policies and legislation to enhance and expand support to families and friends of those who experienced violence; for more compassionate and transparent communication between law enforcement, the district attorney with the family of homicide victims and to push for the elimination of all violence, but particularly gun violence and homicides.