Episode 21: Brandon Spencer

Halloween night 2012, 19-year-old Brandon Spencer and his girlfriend were on the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles attending a Halloween party. Suddenly, shots rang out and it was pandemonium. Everyone scattered, ducked, and hid. There was screaming...it was chaos. Brandon Spencer also ran - but was stopped in a campus parking lot half a mile away and picked up by the LAPD for questioning. Just days later he was charged with four counts of attempted murder - four people were wounded but fortunately no one died.

The prosecutor chalked the shooting up to a gang retaliation - between the Bloods and Crips, but Brandon says he was not in a gang. He was a smart kid from a well-to-do supportive family, with a good job getting ready to enter an EMT program. Family, friends, police, even the former mayor of Inglewood vouched for Brandon, but the jury bought the prosecution's theory, that Brandon was a hardcore gangbanger and Brandon was sentenced to 40 years to life for four counts of attempted murder. However, years later, the star witness recanted and without his testimony...there is no evidence linking Brandon to the shooting. So why is Brandon still in prison? And if he's innocent, why was he railroaded?

To contact Brandon directly, please write to him at:

Brandon Spencer AT3978

A3-05-228

Po Box 3461

Corcoran, ca 93212

SOURCES:

• https://www.change.org/p/jackie-lacey-free-brandon-spencer

• https://casetext.com/case/people-v-spencer-382

• https://www.laweekly.com/brandon-spencer

• https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/11

• https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0422

• https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/revnppub/B255745.PDF

• https://calawyers.org/california-lawyers-association/record-and-file-retention-policy/

• https://www.cityofinglewood.org/27/City-Hall

• https://web.archive.org/web/20150426115328/

• http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0636546.html

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inglewood,_California#2010_census

• https://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Inglewood-California.html

• https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/looking-back-la-riots-beating-rodney-king

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60GalVEsBYc

• https://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/march-1991-

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots

• http://intersectionssouthla.org/story/brandon-spencer-usc-halloween-shooting/

• http://da.lacounty.gov/media/news/inglewood-man

• https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1090&context=cl_pubs

• https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/

• https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/revnppub/B255745.PDF

• https://lasentinel.net/usc-halloween-shooter-convicted.html

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Ming_Qu_and_Ying_Wu

• https://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-foreign-students-

• https://www.huffpost.com/entry/usc-shooting-ying-wu-ming-qu_b_1438248

• https://datausa.io/profile/university/university-of-southern-california#admissions

• https://dailytrojan.com/2020/06/03/petition-urges

• https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/police-shooting

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKrM8TLmbhg