The Region - News from July 3, 1986

In a case that has drawn great attention in the area’s Vietnamese community, an Orange County Superior Court judge has ruled that a defendant’s confession to Westminster police that he shot a former Saigon housing official can be used against him. Judge Jean Rheinheimer, rejecting defense claims that police violated defendant Be Tu Van Tran’s right to remain silent, ruled in a pre-trial hearing that his statements to police, including the words, “I shot him. I accept responsibility,” be allowed as evidence when the trial begins. Tran is accused of the attempted murder of Tran Khanh Van, who was shot in the stomach and shoulder near his Westminster real estate office on March 18.