By Paul T. Rosynsky
Contra Costa Times
OAKLAND, Calif. — In the summer of 2008, Curtis Norris and Edward Dismuke developed a dislike for each other when both were doing time at Santa Rita Jail.
That animosity continued after their release, and when Norris saw Dismuke riding a bicycle several months later in East Oakland, he sent him a message.
“This is for all the (stuff) you said at Rita,” Norris, then 19, said before killing Dismuke with two shots from a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, evidence in a recent trial proved.
Norris, who was arrested shortly after the killing, admitted to police that he killed Dismuke but said it was self-defense because he believed Dismuke was reaching for a handgun.
Dismuke was not carrying a weapon.
Police and prosecutors didn’t believe him and neither did a jury this week as it found Norris guilty of second-degree murder and firing a firearm causing death which will send the now 21-year-old to prison for 40 years to life.
The verdict was reached after about two days of deliberation.
“I’m definitely pleased that the jury came to the correct conclusion,” said Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Warren, who tried the case.
Warren said evidence in the case proved that Norris did not act in self-defense because Dismuke had no way of reaching for gun as he was riding a bicycle.
A surveillance camera from a nearby cafe recorded Dismuke riding his bicycle in the seconds before the shooting and a witness testified that Norris yelled at Dismuke just before the killing, Warren said.
In addition, Warren said, Norris admitted to police that he did not like Dismuke even as he claimed the shooting was self-defense.
Norris will be sentenced in May by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman.
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