Prosecutors’ case against a longtime Oakland police detective accused of bribery and perjury appears to be fraying in light of new evidence.

Phong Tran’s trial was scheduled to begin Monday morning at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland with a trial judge being assigned to the case. But prosecutors have struggled to track down a key witness, and after today’s hearing, Deputy District Attorney Darby Williams said the office was considering dropping all but one charge — perjury, or lying under oath — against Tran.

Judge Roz Silvaggio said she’d give DA Ursula Jones Dickson’s office more time to make that decision, but said the trial must start by April 1. Silvaggio said she will assign the case to a trial judge next Monday.

Williams, the prosecutor assigned to the case, told reporters she received “new information” regarding the case last Thursday, complicating the decision over whether to pursue all four criminal charges against Tran.

Tran currently faces three perjury-related counts and one count of bribery of a witness in connection with a 2016 murder trial he worked on as a detective. He has pleaded not guilty.

Williams declined to offer specifics about the new information.

The case has prompted prosecutors to review more than 100 cases tied to Tran and has led to lenient plea deals in some cases and the dismissal of charges in others.

The scandal has also called into question the Oakland Police Department’s ability to investigate itself and undermined its efforts to exit federal court oversight, now in its 23rd year.

Investigators with the Police Commission’s Community Police Review Agency and an outside law firm found that former OPD Chief LeRonne Armstrong and his successor, Darren Allison, each failed to ensure that OPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau rigorously and fairly examined the allegations against Tran. The pair of investigations by CPRA and the law firm revealed that eight officers — including four high-ranking staff — signed off on allowing Tran to return to work despite the bribery and perjury allegations. CPRA and the law firm also found that three of those officers obstructed the internal affairs investigation.

The criminal allegations against Tran largely hinge on Aisha Weber, a key witness whom prosecutors have unsuccessfully tried to track down over the past several months, according to court documents reviewed by The Oaklandside.

In 2021, the DA’s office, then led by Nancy O’Malley, alleged that Tran made secret cash payments to Weber, whose testimony sent North Oakland residents Giovante Douglas and Cartier Hunter to prison in the 2011 killing of Charles Butler. Both men had their convictions overturned and were released from prison in 2022.

“To date, Weber has refused all efforts by the District Attorney to appear in court, to willingly accept a subpoena, to communicate with District Attorney Investigators or Deputies, and has refused to provide information as to her whereabouts or any means to facilitate communication,” Williams wrote in a court filing dated Jan. 16.

“The reality is the whole case depends on Ms. Weber,” Williams told reporters outside of the courtroom Monday.

Asked by a reporter to respond to concerns about the case “lagging,” Williams said she disagreed with the characterization, adding, “There are much older cases going through the system right now.”

Andrew Ganz, Tran’s attorney, declined to provide a comment.

In an interview with The Oaklandside, former DA Pamela Price said her successor has shown a “pattern” of not holding police accountable. Price, who was recalled in 2024, pointed to Jones Dickson’s dismissal of charges against two sheriff’s deputies alleged to have falsified records about a 2021 suicide at Santa Rita Jail, as well as her decision to drop charges against six sheriff’s deputies in connection with the 2021 death of Maurice Monk inside Santa Rita.

“We do not have a DA who is willing to fight for the constitution when it involves law enforcement,” Price said.

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