His IQ is 66. But jury says he was sane when he shot at cops on orders from a gang member

A Fresno gang member with an IQ of 66, who said an older gang member ordered him to shoot at two Fresno police officers in a patrol car, has been found guilty of attempted murder and assault with a firearm. The same jury concluded he was sane when he fired the shots.

The Fresno County Superior Court jury, which announced its guilty verdict on Tuesday, also found Joseph Chanla, 21, had done the shooting for the benefit of a criminal street gang. The bullets hit the patrol car’s windshield, but missed the two officers.

On Thursday, in a second phase of the trial, the same jury found Chanla was sane when he did the crime.

He now faces at least 40 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 2. If Chanla had been found insane, he would have been sent to a state hospital.

The shooting happened around 5:30 p.m. Jan. 16, 2014, on Fresno Street, south of Belmont Avenue near downtown.

Prosecutor Noelle Pebet said the police Violent Crime Impact Team was looking for a wanted man at 403 N. Fresno Street when Asian Boyz gang members Wilson Khounvixay and Chanla left the home.

According to Pebet, a witness heard Khounvixay tell Chanla, “Buck at them, foo, buck at them.” Pebet said the phrase means shoot at the officers.

Uniformed officers Timothy Sullivan and Jarite Gueringer were then hit with flying glass after Chanla fired five shots at the patrol car’s windshield.

After the shooting, Chanla ran, but Khounvixay was taken into custody at the crime scene after officers found him hiding under a car.

Police arrested Chanla a few days later after receiving a tip that he was hiding in an apartment on the 500 block of North Orchard Avenue. Pebet said police found a semi-automatic handgun hidden in a television inside the apartment. Ballistics showed that the shell casing at the crime scene came from the gun, Pebet said.

According to Pebet’s trial brief, Chanla confessed to firing the handgun, saying he was told to do it “by a older, respected member of the Asian Boys” street gang. “Defendant Chanla told detectives he had to shoot at the officers or he would be disciplined for not following orders,” the brief says.

Defense attorney Greg Gross, however, said Chanla was not guilty by reason of insanity because he has an IQ of 66, or extremely low intelligence. Gross also said Chanla didn’t have a normal life: his parents moved to North Carolina and abandoned him in Fresno, leaving him homeless and depending on people to give him a place to sleep and eat.

In addition, Chanla once stayed in the hospital for a month after suffering a broken leg and concussion.

But Pebet told the jury that two court-appointed doctors said he was sane at the time of the shooting. Only the doctor hired by the defense said Chanla was insane. Pebet also told the jury that Chanla was overheard saying that if faked being mentally disabled he would get a lesser sentence.

Court records say Khounvixay, then 29, stood trial in August 2015 without Chanla because Chanla’s mental ability had been called into question. During the trial, Khounvixay testified that he barely knew Chanla and had no clue he was going to shoot at police. Once gunfire erupted, Khounvixay said he ducked for cover.

The jury was unable to convict Khounvixay of several charges, including attempted murder and assault with a firearm. To avoid a retrial, Khounivaxy pleaded no contest in October 2015 to assault with a firearm and was later sentenced to six years in prison, court records say.

This story was originally published August 31, 2017 at 5:16 PM with the headline "His IQ is 66. But jury says he was sane when he shot at cops on orders from a gang member."