In court, nightclub shooting suspect regained right to gun

An 18-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting a hip-hop performer at a popular Capitol Hill nightclub last weekend successfully petitioned to have his right to own a firearm reinstated last year following a stolen-handgun arrest.

Bail for Carlos Bernardez, of Seattle, and a second suspect, Roger La Branche, 25, of Everett, was set at $2 million each on Monday by King County District Court Judge Elizabeth Stephenson.

Stephenson said high bail was appropriate because the shooting at Chop Suey on East Madison Street early Sunday posed an "extreme danger" to the public. The judge determined there was sufficient cause to hold both men for investigation of murder.

The shooting left 24-year-old hip-hop artist Joseph Ryan, also known as 29-E, dead. It seriously wounded hip-hop promoter Avery Turner, who is also known as Prezwell Jackson and 1st Black Prez.

A third man, James Jones, was wounded in the arm and leg and was treated at Harborview Medical Center and released.

According to juvenile-court documents, Bernardez entered a deferred disposition to a charge of being a juvenile in possession of a firearm after a 2007 arrest in Seattle. After fulfilling requirements for the deferral, his attorney successfully argued to restore Bernardez's rights to own a firearm despite objections by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, juvenile records state.

Jones said the shooting at Chop Suey stemmed from a long-standing dispute between La Branche and Jones, according to a document of probable cause prepared by Seattle police. Jones told police he was involved in a dispute with La Branche and believed the suspect had taken part in a drive-by shooting at his apartment.

Police refused to comment on the ongoing investigation.

Dawn Logerfo, mother of Ryan, said Seattle police told her that her son apparently was an innocent bystander in a shooting that seemed to be targeted at someone else.

Account of the shooting

According to the probable-cause document, Bernardez is alleged to have knocked at the club's back door and requested entry. After speaking to the three victims briefly, he opened fire and then fled, police wrote in the document.

Jones then turned and ran down a hallway into the main portion of the club, police said.

Jones told police that La Branche then confronted him, pulled out a handgun and fired one shot. It's unclear from the document whether that gunshot struck Jones.

La Branche was restrained by Jones and several other witnesses until officers arrived and took him into custody, according to police.

Witnesses picked out Bernardez as the primary shooter from a photo montage provided by gang-unit detectives, police said. His family's home was staked out until he was arrested at 3 p.m. Sunday. Police said he had a Colt .45-caliber handgun on him.

Police said Bernardez told them that he had been outside of the club with his girlfriend when he was approached by La Branche.

"Bernardez said that La Branche handed Bernardez a Colt .45 and told him that he needed help in shooting someone," according to a police report. "Bernardez said that La Branche told him that he would shoot him if he didn't help."

La Branche's attorney, John Crowley, said Monday that his client denies involvement in the shooting and denies knowing Bernardez. Crowley said his client believes that any videotape surveillance of the club will exonerate him.

"Mr. La Branche believes that videotapes will show he was not outside the club and he was not talking to [Bernardez] at all," Crowley said.

Crowley said initial cellphone records have not shown that there was any connection between his client and Bernardez.

La Branche's girlfriend, who attended the bail hearing, said she was certain La Branche would be released once the facts of the case came out.

"He didn't do it. I was right there with him," said the woman, who asked that her name not be used. "I promise you, he didn't do it."

King County prosecutors say they expect to make a decision on criminal charges by Wednesday.

Gun in a backpack

According to court records, La Branche has several speeding violations but no criminal convictions. Bernardez's criminal history includes charges for assault and harassment as well as being a minor in possession of a handgun.

According to court documents, two Seattle gang-unit detectives stopped to talk to a group of young men, including Bernardez, who were standing on a corner near Pratt Park in Seattle's Yesler Terrace neighborhood in September 2007.

The officers explained they were in the area because of an increase in gang activity. The young men were cooperative and gave their names, according to court documents.

After the young men left, one detective found a backpack in a garbage can directly behind where the group had stood, court documents said. Inside the pack, the detective found a loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun wrapped in a T-shirt. The handgun was later determined to have been reported stolen to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office.

Also in the backpack was a Seattle Public Schools registration form bearing Bernardez's name. Minutes later, detectives arrested Bernardez, then 17, for second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Under state law, it is illegal for anyone under age 18 to possess a handgun except with parental permission while on the parents' property.

Gun rights restored

Bernardez entered a deferred disposition, and after six months on community supervision and 40 hours of community service his conviction was vacated, according to juvenile-court records.

The Prosecutor's Office agreed to restore all his rights except the right to possess a firearm, the records say. Typically, a defendant must petition the court to have firearms rights reinstated at least five years after a felony conviction.

But Bernardez's attorney, Christine Wyatt, successfully argued that his juvenile conviction had been "vacated" after he satisfied the court's conditions, the records say.

Because the statute dealing with firearms does not use the word "vacate" in defining a criminal conviction, the judge ruled in the defense's favor.

Wyatt did not return a call for comment.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.