A state appeals court panel Friday upheld a man's conviction for killing two gang rivals at a Long Beach liquor store, but ordered a new sentencing hearing for him.
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The three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal vacated Morris Om's sentence of 91 years and eight months to life, and directed a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to hold a full re-sentencing hearing.
Om, now 37, was convicted of second-degree murder for the Oct. 10, 2017, shooting deaths of Danny Bunthung, 21, and Dallas Som, 22, along with charges including evading a police officer and felon in possession of a firearm.
Om -- who was arrested after a police pursuit in which his girlfriend's son was sitting in the vehicle's back seat -- initially denied any involvement in the killing at the liquor store at Anaheim Street and Walnut Avenue, which followed a confrontation, according to the appellate court panel's 30-page ruling.
He subsequently testified in his own defense, acknowledging that he had shot the two men but claiming that he feared for the life of another man with him, the justices noted.
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