Oakland man convicted of murder despite shakeup over detective charged with perjury

OAKLAND — Despite the police investigation being assisted by an allegedly dishonest detective, a 34-year-old man was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2019 shooting death of a man who was asleep in his car when a group of people attacked him, court records show.

After a 12-day trial in April, a jury convicted Oakland resident Bryan Colston of first-degree murder, shooting into an occupied car and being a felon in possession of a firearm, all felonies. He was set to be sentenced this week, but the hearing was postponed and a new one set for July 10, court records show.

Colston was found guilty of killing 23-year-old Bomani Busby, who was shot and killed Oct. 9, 2019, on the 800 block of 77th Avenue. Colston’s three co-defendants who allegedly participated in the assault have all taken plea deals, while charges against Colston’s girlfriend at the time were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

Two of the three remaining co-defendants — Brandon Harper and Joshua Lucas — were called as defense witnesses and pleaded no contest to manslaughter. Harper was sentenced to four years after Colston’s trial. Lucas has a pending federal hold alleging he violated his supervised release in a gun case and has not yet been sentenced. Derrick Simmons, who was called as a prosecution witness, pleaded no contest to accessory and was given an early termination of his probation after trial, court records show.

Colston’s trial started just one day after news that one of the investigators who worked Busby’s murder — Oakland police Detective Phong Tran — had paid a witness in another case, leading to an overturned verdict for two men who’d previously been convicted of murder. Eleven days after Colston was convicted, prosecutors in Alameda County filed perjury and bribery charges against Tran, which remain pending. Tran has pled not guilty to the charges.

Tran was originally on the witness list but prosecutors never called on him, according to records of each trial hearing. Before the verdict came down, Colston’s attorney filed a failed motion to dismiss the case, arguing the District Attorney’s Office failed to disclose Tran’s alleged misconduct.

The defense argued to jurors that Colston had shot Busby in self-defense based on the false belief he was about to pull a weapon, pointing to two pellet guns later found in Busby’s car as proof that Colston saw a gun-like object in or near Busby’s hand. The prosecution argued Colston killed Busby intentionally “to teach him a lesson” and pointed to surveillance showing Colston draw, aim and shoot his gun from a few feet away.

Deputy District Attorney Margaret Calonge said Colston’s intent was evidenced by him allegedly telling others to get out of the way so he could get a clear shot at Busby. She said afterward, the group drove to a hotel and cleaned up their car in an attempt to destroy evidence. She showed jurors surveillance evidence of the cleanup too, noting the men appeared to be going about the task casually despite having taken a human life earlier in the evening.

Gun enhancements against Colston were dismissed just before the trial. For the first-degree murder charge alone, Colston faces 25 years to life in prison.