From SignOnSanDiego.com (CA) of December 23, 2006
Pair cleared by jury in killing outside Las Vegas strip club
A jury has cleared two men of murder charges in the 2005 shooting death of a man outside a Las Vegas strip club.
Jesus Vega, a mortgage loan officer and former Marine, and Brian Baker, a mortgage broker, were found not guilty Thursday by a Clark County District Court jury.
But Vega was convicted of a lesser charge of discharging a weapon into a motor vehicle.
The pair were leaving the Sapphire Gentlemen's Club when they encountered Wei Liu, Amir Mogadam and Kristian Wong-Wui in the parking lot.
Baker, 32, was accused of giving an obscene gesture to the three as Mogadam's vehicle passed close to Baker and Vega. Baker testified that he thought he saw one of the men in the vehicle flash a gun.
Vega, 30, fatally shot Liu after Mogadam backed up and started driving toward Vega and Baker, police said.
Defense lawyer Dominic Gentile told the jury that Vega feared for his life and acted in self-defense.
But prosecutor Linda Lewis questioned whether Vega and Baker acted in self-defense. The pair did not run to their vehicles or try to leave after Baker reported seeing a weapon, she said.
Lewis said Liu never stepped out of the vehicle and was shot while riding in the vehicle.
Gentile said Mogadam is a recovering heroin addict and owner of Dope Fiend Records, a Los Angeles-based hip-hop record label.
Gentile said Mogadam lived with Liu in Las Vegas and both had been gang members in Los Angeles.
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