Fresno motorcycle club shootout was like gunfight at the O.K. Corral, attorney says
THE LATEST: Jury returns verdict
The trial of Antoine Caradine, 33, came to a close Tuesday with jurors now faced with the decision of whether the defendant acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Darnell Johnson or is guilty of second-degree murder.
Johnson, 31, was gunned down at about 2:45 a.m. on Oct. 1 at a gathering of the Soul Brothers Motorcycle Club. The event was held at the club’s clubhouse on McKinley Avenue near Hughes Avenue and Highway 99 and was attended by about 200 people.
As the party was winding down, Fresno police said, there was an argument among a group of people in the crowd that escalated to violence. At least four people fired their weapons.
Caradine is accused of firing four shots at Johnson, who later died. Two others were also shot and were treated at Community Regional Medical Center.
“It was like the gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” said Caradine’s attorney Linden Lindahl.
Lindahl relied heavily on video clips of surveillance footage to show Caradine was trying to protect himself from Johnson, who was portrayed as the aggressor.
Lindahl argued during his closing statements that Caradine was trying to protect himself and another man against Johnson. “Darnell had shown him (Caradine) the firearm in his vest,” Linden said. “Did Antoine have a reasonable belief that Darnell was getting ready to use deadly force?”
Lindahl said Caradine was trying to break up the disturbance, as one of his tasks that night was to provide security.
“He thought Darnell was going to shoot someone,” Lindahl said.
Caradine struck Johnson four times. But Lindahl said the coroner’s report notes that Johnson was shot five or six times.
The video shows muzzle flashes coming from two other guns.
“It was chaos,” Lindahl said.
Prosecutor Liz Owen dismissed Lindahl’s argument that Caradine was in fear of his life or that of his friend. She said his actions clearly showed he intended to shoot Johnson.
“How do we know he intended to kill Johnson? He shot him four times,” Owen said. “There is no other reason to point a gun at someone and fire unless you are intending to kill them.”
She also pointed out that Caradine was firing in the direction of not only Johnson but his friend, as well. “He fired four rounds into a group of people, how can he say he is protecting (the friend) when they were in his line of fire?”
Owen also doesn’t believe Caradine was trying to be a peacemaker that night.
“He wasn’t going over there to break anything up,” she said. “After the shooting, he was leaving the property, walking out of the gate with a drink in his hand.”
If convicted on all counts, Caradine faces 40-years-to-life in prison.
The jury continued deliberating Wednesday.
