Was fear to blame for fatal shooting?

Fear — and whether three teenage defendants felt it before fatal gunfire erupted — will be an issue when a trial resumes today in the death of Raymond Castro last May in a car-to-car shooting in East Linda.

One of the defendants, Meng Thao, may take the stand, his attorney, Chief Deputy Public Defender Brian Davis, told Yuba County Judge Kathleen O'Connor.

Thao, Pheng Kue and Thang Yang are charged with first-degree murder and gang enhancements. All are members of the Hmong Nation Society gang, according to prosecutors.

O'Connor ruled Thursday that jurors will not be instructed to consider that Thao, Kue and Yang acted in self-defense because no evidence has shown they feared they would be killed or seriously injured. Fear is a necessary element of self-defense, she said.

The jury instruction could change if evidence of fear surfaces, the judge indicated.

Neither has evidence been pr vided that the defendants knew of Castro's alleged membership in the Norteños gang, she said.

To prove self-defense, it must be shown the defendants knew it was Castro driving the car behind them — or, if they did not know, that they acted out of fear, not anger or road rage, the judge said.

None of the defendants has testified so far.

Defense attorneys can show Castro "had a propensity for violence," Davis told the judge.

Attorneys Roberto Marquez and David Vasquez, representing Kue and Yang, respectively, said Castro was convicted earlier of using his car as a deadly weapon by ramming another car.

Castro was following the defendants' car near the intersection of Oakwood and Fernwood drives when the shots were fired.

Deputy District Attorney Mike Byrne argued defense attorneys want jurors to believe Castro deserved to be shot because he was "a bad man."

"Trials are about finding the truth, not to see who can throw the most mud on somebody," Byrne said.

Defense attorneys, Byrne said, "refuse to acknowledge that a foundation (for self-defense) must be laid" showing that the defendants knew about Castro's background and had reason to fear him.

In another setback for the defense, O'Connor rejected a motion to drop gang enhancements from a long list of charges. The enhancements could add many years to prison sentences.

Sgt. Allen Garza, head of the Yuba County Sheriff's Department gang intelligence unit, testified earlier that all three defendants meet many of the department's 10 criteria for gang membership.

Besides that, O'Connor said, evidence has been presented that Kue and Thao have Hmong Nation Society tattoos, and that Thao pulled a gun the day before the Castro shooting in a gang-related incident.

Also, after the shooting of Castro, Kue was videotaped asking a relative to "hide the gun." A gun case was found in a Hmong Nation Society member's apartment, she said.

Detectives said the case matched the type of gun used to kill Castro. The gun itself was never found.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.