Retrial starts in killing of paramedic
Quinn Boyer was shot in April 2013 after pulling over in the Oakland Hills to use his cellphone; alleged shooter gets new trial in adult court
OAKLAND >> Off-deputy Santa Clara County paramedic Quinn Boyer did what most motorists probably don’t do in April 2013 — actually pulled over to use his cellphone. But moments later, he was shot and killed.
Boyer, 34, was using his phone in his Honda Civic on Keller Avenue in the Oakland Hills on the morning of April 2, 2013, when two teens approached him, one with a gun, in an attempt to rob him, said prosecutor Jimmie Wilson.
Wilson painted a picture of a young man, an Oakland native, who had been married for less than a year, ready to start the next chapter in his life.
“He did something that every one of us should do: He pulled over on the side of the road to use his cellphone,” Wilson said.
Christian Burton, 16 at the time, and his friend were allegedly trying to carjack Boyer. Prosecutors allege they had gotten out of a car containing four other teen boys, who had gone on a crime spree that day and stolen that car.
But when Boyer tried to drive away, Burton allegedly shot at the vehicle through the passenger side window, shattering the glass. The bullet from the .22-caliber pistol hit him on the right side of his head, causing him to crash into a tree, and down an embankment. Boyer died in a hospital two days later.
The white iPhone that he had pulled over to use was
shown in a photo to the jury, lying in Boyer’s car, dripping with his blood.
“It could have happened to anyone,” Wilson said during his opening arguments Monday morning at the Rene C. Davidson courthouse in Oakland.
Burton allegedly confessed to police that he was the shooter. The now21-year-old man appeared in court on Monday seated next to his attorney, Ernie Castillo, wearing glasses, a white collared shirt and slacks, with his long dark hair pulled back, his hands mostly folded.
But his attorney said in his opening remarks that he will bring in experts to show that what police got from Burton back in 2013 was a false confession.
“You’re going to hear how and why this 16-year-old kid admitted to something that he didn’t do,” Castillo said.
Castillo said Burton had nothing to do with the shooting, and blamed it instead on another teen boy. Police did not even find Burton’s fingerprints in the car he was supposedly in, Castillo said. But fingerprints of the five other teen boys were found in the car
they had carjacked earlier that day.
Both the defense and prosecution talked about the shooting’s only witness, a woman in her 70s, who called 911 that day. But the prosecution alleges that what she thinks she witnessed is not correct, and the evidence will prove it.
The prosecutor said the group of six teen boys ranging in age from 13 to 16, including Burton, saw Boyer’s car pulled over and wanted to carjack it. They made a U-turn to pull in front of Boyer’s Honda on Keller Avenue, and approached him
from the driver’s side window.
But the witness stated to police that the teen’s car was on the opposite side of the road, Wilson said.
The defense, however, said the woman is credible. Castillo said the woman saw a teen wearing a beige jacket and a white baseball cap shoot at Boyer. Burton’s teen friend was wearing clothing that matches that description, while Burton was wearing a distinctive jean jacket, with his friend’s face on the back.
Besides Burton’s own confession to police, at least
two other teens in the car said that Burton was the shooter.
“This case is sad because Quinn Boyer didn’t have to die,” Wilson said. “It’s also sad because this defendant made the choice he made.”
This is the second time a jury is to consider Burton’s case. In September 2015, a jury deadlocked 7-5 in favor of finding him guilty of murder.
But changes to the state law put the case on hold in 2017. With Proposition 57, which voters passed in November 2016, it took away the prosecution’s ability to file juvenile murder cases and other serious crimes directly to adult court. In February of this year, a judge ruled that Burton’s case could be tried in adult court.
Burton’s co-defendant in the first 2015 trial, David McNeal, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 48 years to life in state prison.
Several members of Boyer’s family and friends were present for Monday’s opening statements, including his widow, Liz. Boyer, who lived in Dublin at the time of his death, was studying at Stanford University to become a physician assistant. He and his wife were looking to start a family.
“All we can do is live our lives as Quinn would want us to: with our hearts open to joy, fun, adventure and love,” his wife said to this news organization in 2015.