Ex-Owner Not Liable for Sister Being Shot at Cafe, Jury Decides

A former cafe owner is not responsible for the wound her sister received when hit by a stray bullet during a street-gang disturbance, an Orange County jury decided Thursday.

Yen Lam was sued by her sister, Anh Phuc Lam, who was once a professional singer in Vietnam and who claimed that her career suffered as a result of the injury she suffered two years ago at Yen Lam’s cafe. The bullet hit her diaphragm, according to her attorney.

Yen Lam’s restaurant, the Cafe Lup, had a $500,000 liability insurance policy at the time of the incident.

Anh Phuc Lam was “disappointed” with the verdict Thursday, according to her attorney, Charles J. Mazursky. Manus J. McGettigan, lawyer for Yen Lam, said the verdict was expected.

2 Days of Deliberations

On their first ballot, the jury voted to hold the owner responsible, jurors said. But after deliberations that extended over two days, the final vote was 11-1 against holding the owner liable.

The now-defunct Cafe Lup, at 414 N. Euclid St., Santa Ana, had been the subject of continuing demands for “protection” payments from a powerful street gang. The key issue was whether the owner should have warned her sister of the danger when gunfire erupted on Sept. 29, 1984.

Both sides agreed that Anh Phuc Lam was a well-known performer in Vietnam before she fled with her sister in 1979. She made eight records in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and will perform next in a celebration of the Vietnamese New Year on Jan. 17 at the UCLA campus.

On the night of the shooting, the singer had performed at the cafe at the request of patrons, she testified. She said that she performed there several times a month.

8 to 10 Shots

While she was in a bathroom, eight to 10 gunshots were fired outside the cafe. Police officers testified that the incident involved a dispute over a car believed to have been stolen by the Fifth Street Gang, a group with about three dozen members active in the neighborhood.

Anh Phuc Lam testified through an interpreter that she did not realize what was happening when the gunfire began. When she returned to the dining room, her sister asked her to shut a door leading to the parking lot.

“I heard my sister’s voice calling me,” the singer said. “She said, ‘Quick, quick. Please close the door.’ She seemed to want me to do it right away.”

When the singer reached the door, she was shot in the stomach.

The cafe owner testified that she was frightened by the shooting. She said that her request to her sister was a matter of “reflex.”

No one was arrested for the shooting, but Santa Ana police officers testified that the gang was suspected. Anh Phuc Lam was considered an innocent victim of a stray bullet.

Heavy Gang Activity

Santa Ana homicide investigator Gary Bruce testified that the area was one of heavy gang activity, including regular extortion demands. Yen Lam told the jury that, despite repeated demands, she refused to pay any money but did not contact police.

Several jurors said Thursday that they felt insufficient evidence had been presented to support a verdict on the singer’s behalf. Several jurors said they still believe that she deserved “compensation” for her wound but felt that they could not fix responsibility on the sister.

Jury foreman Clark Schluter, 30, of Laguna Hills said the final verdict reflected a conclusion that Yen Lam could not have expected or predicted that the gunfire outside posed a danger inside the cafe.