The family of slain brothers Suiti and Manase Mesui, both shot and killed in September 2021, are complaining to the press that the brothers’ shooter may be able to plead down to voluntary manslaughter charges instead of murder.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price had already been a target of the Fox News machine calling her a “Soros-funded DA,” and the usual attacks lodged against reform-minded district attorneys. She’s also had some high-profile controversies since winning office last November, like trying to disqualify a judge who threw out one of her plea deals, and mentioning the possibility that she might not pursue murder charges in the case of the freeway shooting of two-year-old Jasper Wu.
The family of two brothers killed in Oakland are upset at a plea deal proposed for the shooter that would let him serve 9 years in prison at most. https://t.co/fpMpA04L8l
— KTVU (@KTVU) May 24, 2023
Now Price has another possible controversy brewing, or at least the family of two shooting victims is complaining about her to the press. KTVU reports that the family of 2021 shooting victims Suiti and Manase Mesui is speaking out against a plea deal that they say Price has offered to defendant Sam Veimau. The family says Veimau was offered an attempt to plead down to voluntary manslaughter instead of murder, and that they were not consulted about this.
Per KTVU, the family adds that “if approved, Veimau would face a total of nine years instead of 25 years to life for each murder charge he originally faced.”
The double-shooting was covered by the Bay Area News Group in 2021. In September of that year, Veimau allegedly shot the Mesui brothers after what KTVU describes as “a physical altercation,” though adds that it’s still “unclear what the fight was about.” And yes, Veimau was charged with murder by Price’s predecessor Nancy O’Malley.
"Angry. I was sad that this is what we've come to, all of it," the victims’ cousin Fiti Mesui told KTVU. "I feel betrayed by my city,"
We only have the family’s version of events here, as Price’s office declined to comment to KTVU.
But we’ll know more tomorrow, as Veimau’s sentencing is set for Thursday at the Alameda County Superior Courthouse in Oakland. And it’s possible that once again, an Alameda County judge tosses out another of Price’s plea deals.
Image: Coolcaesar via Wikimedia Commons
