Jury finds suspect guilty in retrial

A jury found Main Street Crips gang member Julius Bradford guilty of first-degree murder and attempted robbery Friday in District Judge Michelle Leavitt's courtroom.

This was a retrial for Bradford, 22, who was convicted in 2004 of first-degree murder in the death of Benito Zambrano-Lopez and attempted robbery.

The 48-year-old father of seven was walking to a grocery store June 8, 2003, on Tumbleweed Avenue, near North Rancho Drive, when he was attacked by three men, who shot and killed him.

The Nevada Supreme Court overturned the 2004 conviction, citing erroneous jury instructions in the first trial.

Justices also chastised prosecutors for violating a court order by bringing in gang affiliation evidence, which Leavitt had barred from the trial.

But Bradford's prior affiliation with the Los Angeles Main Street Crips became game in this trial when he took the witness stand and testified that he was traumatized by the murder of Zambrano-Lopez and that he had never committed a robbery before.

Prosecutors Giancarlo Pesci, who prosecuted Bradford in 2004, and Joshua Tomsheck said they were able to introduce Bradford's statement to police, in which he said he had been a Crips member since the late 1990s.

Bradford did not testify in the first trial.

"That was a real challenge because Julius Bradford is a very, very intelligent young man, and he comes across very well," Pesci said.

Bradford was not the shooter, but Pesci and Tomsheck argued that he attacked Zambrano-Lopez along with Steven Perry, then 18, and Tyrone Williams, then 16, in an attempt to rob him, although nothing was taken from the victim.

Zambrano-Lopez was an illegal immigrant who worked in construction and sent money to his family in Mexico, his son testified Tuesday.

Chetique Vercher, who was with the trio after the shooting, testified she heard Bradford recall how he told Williams to shoot Zambrano-Lopez.

Bradford, Perry and Williams were all sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for the attack. Bradford could receive the same penalty again, but he faces a maximum of life in prison when Leavitt sentences him Sept. 20.

His defense attorney, Mace Yampolsky, had argued that the three were walking together when Williams attacked Zambrano-Lopez.

Yampolsky said Bradford joined the fight when his friend started losing. Williams broke out the gun and fired, the attorney said.

Yampolsky said his client will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, and he hoped the introduction of gang affiliation in this trial will affect the outcome of the high court appeal.

"I think he came across well (on the witness stand)," Yampolsky said. "But I think bringing up the prior gang affiliation hurt."