OAKLAND — A local resident was formally sentenced to 10 years in state prison for killing a man during a wild West Oakland shootout.

Bomani Hairston-Bassette, 27, was sent to prison in April, following a hung jury in his murder trial and a subsequent plea agreement. Hairston-Bassette pleaded no contest to manslaughter in the death of 36-year-old Charles Wright.

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Prosecutors contended that Hairston-Bassette attempted to rob Wright and another man, Antoine Ford, while they were selling drugs on Sept. 24, 2022, at the 900 block of Brockhurst Street in West Oakland. Both Wright and Hairston-Bassette were shot during the encounter.

The defense contended that Wright had pulled a gun on Hairston-Bassette and shot him in the hand, and that Hairston-Bassette wrestled the gun from him during a struggle. Hairston-Bassette then allegedly shot Wright, and Ford shot Hairston-Bassette as he fled from the scene, according to court records.

Ford, who was subpoenaed but refused to testify during trial, was sentenced to federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Hairston-Bassette’s lawyer, Steve DeFilippis, said the whole thing was a “crazy situation” but that he still believes it was self-defense.

“There were things that didn’t come out at trial but this particular cocaine dealer didn’t like my client being in that area, and confronted him,” DeFilippis said in an interview. “Unfortunately the video evidence was horrible and you really couldn’t tell anything from it.”

Jurors deliberated for several days, sent multiple letters back to the trial judge, but were unable to reach a verdict at Hairston-Bassette’s trial last February. Ozy Brennan, a local blogger who authored a piece about being on the jury concluded that “the crime was stupid” but that the jurors were “pretty smart” but one was a “Kantian” who created an impasse to a unanimous verdict.

“I have learned why they don’t let philosophy professors on juries,” Brennan concluded.