Episode Details

Twenty-eight-year-old Harry Black just got 10 years in state prison after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter for killing 55-year-old James Earl Stephens — a man he’d just celebrated his anniversary with. The shooting erupted at a smoke shop in East Oakland when Black, wearing a ski mask, claimed Johnson stepped on his shoe, sparking a fight. Black testified he feared for his life and didn’t intend to kill Stephens — a jury acquitted him of first-degree murder and deadlocked on second-degree. The plea deal, though controversial, was seen by the judge as a way to let the grieving family begin healing — especially after Tamika Bass-Stephens, Stephens’ widow, called the outcome inadequate, and Johnson, the other shot victim, branded the whole thing a “legal fiction.” Black, who could walk free in six years with good behavior, also faces $8,000 in restitution.

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