OAKLAND — In a bid to toss their client’s murder conviction, defense attorneys say an Oakland homicide detective showed racial bias by telling him an all-white jury could see him as a “big scary Black guy,” unless he confessed to the killing.

By remaining silent and not admitting to the 2012 shooting, the detective allegedly told the suspect, he “might as well squeeze that noose a little tighter,” according to a recent legal filing by Jenny Brandt and Jane Brown of the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office.

These are the latest allegations against Phong Tran, an Oakland detective known for closing cases in a long career in the homicide unit. His investigations are now under a microscope for his allegedly questionable tactics, which has caused a review of hundreds of homicide cases he e

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