Santa Ana nightclub beating victim threw first punch, officers testify

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Vanesa Zavala, center, and Candace Brito, left, shown in a Santa Ana courtroom, were each sentenced to six years in prison for the beating death of 23-year-old Kim Pham outside a trendy Santa Ana nightclub. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Candace Brito, left, fights to hold back tears in a Santa Ana courtroom, where she was sentenced with Vanesa Zavala, right, to six years in prison. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Vanesa Zavala, right, and Candace Brito, left, were each sentenced to six years in prison for the beating death of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends and family react after two women are convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Kim Pham after a brawl outside a Santa Ana nightclub. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Dung Pham, the father of beating victim Kim Pham, addresses the media following the sentencing of Vanesa Zavala and Candace Brito. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Defendants Candace Brito, left, and Vanesa Zavala enter a Santa Ana courtroom July 22, when attorneys began closing arguments in the case against the women who are facing charges relating to the beating death of 23-year-old Annie Kim Pham. (Joshua Sudock / Associated Press)

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Candace Brito, left, and Vanesa Zavala enter court for their trial in Santa Ana on July 9. (Mark Rightmire / Associated Press)

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Suspects Vanesa Tapia Zavala, left, and Candace Marie Brito attend a preliminary hearing in the beating death of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Borris in court. On screen is a video of the Kim Pham beating -- one of several pieces of evidence presented during the first day of a preliminary hearing for Candace Marie Brito and Vanesa Tapia Zavala, who are facing charges in Pham’s death. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Attorney Kenneth Alan Reed, left, sits next to his client Vanesa Tapia Zavala, second from left, and Michael Molfetta sits next to his client, Candace Marie Brito, during their preliminary hearing in the beating death of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Vanesa Tapia Zavala arrives for a preliminary hearing at the West Justice Center in Westminster. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Candace Marie Brito arrives for a preliminary hearing at the West Justice Center in Westminster. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Defense attorneys Kenneth Alan Reed, left, and Michael Molfetta meet with reporters outside of the West Justice Center in Westminster after their clients, Vanesa Tapia Zavala and Candace Marie Brito, were ordered to stand trial on murder charges in the beating death of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Troy Pino meets with reporters outside of the West Justice Center in Westminster after a judge ruled that Candace Marie Brito and Vanesa Tapia Zavala will stand trial in the murder of Kim Pham. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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The family of Kim Pham exits the West Justice Center in Westminster. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Dung Pham prays for his daughter, Annie Hung “Kim” Pham, 23, of Huntington Beach, during a memorial Mass for her at Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Mourners hold flowers and a portrait of Kim Pham as they watch pallbearers carry Pham’s casket after a memorial Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster on Tuesday. The family later took the urn with Kim’s remains to place next to her mother’s urn at Melrose Abbey in Anaheim. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Pallbearers carry Kim Pham’s casket in Westminster on Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The funeral Mass for Kim Pham was held Tuesday at Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A mourner pauses near the hearse outside Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster on Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Mourners embrace after the memorial Mass for Kim Pham at Blessed Sacrament Church in Westminster on Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends and family pay their respects as they attend a public viewing of Annie Hung “Kim” Pham at Brothers of St. Patrick in Midway City on Monday. Pham was beaten to death outside the Crosby Bar and Nightclub in Santa Ana. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple embrace as they pay their respects at a public viewing of Kim Pham at Brothers of St. Patrick in Midway City on Monday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Candles, incense and flowers surround a portrait of Kim Pham displayed during a public viewing at Brothers of St. Patrick in Midway City on Monday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends of Kim Pham, 23, who was beaten to death outside the Crosby nightclub in downtown Santa Ana, embrace at the scene and memorial where she was attacked Wednesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends and family have left a large memorial for Kim Pham, 23, who was beaten to death outside the Crosby nightclub in downtown Santa Ana. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

By Adolfo Flores and Anh Do

Feb. 11, 2014 10:11 AM PT

Kim Pham, the woman who died after a beating outside a Santa Ana nightclub, threw the first punch and instigated the fight, according to police officers who testified in court Monday.

Five Santa Ana police officers took the stand, for the first time detailing accounts from witnesses who saw the fight last month.

Vanesa Tapia Zavala, 25, and Candace Marie Brito, 27, have been charged with murder in the Jan. 18 altercation. Both have pleaded not guilty.

PHOTOS: Kim Pham beating death

Officer Roland Andrade said one witness told him someone from Zavala and Brito’s group bumped into Pham, setting off an argument.

Andrade was told one of the women told Pham, “Excuse me,” using a sarcastic tone. That prompted Pham to start screaming obscenities at the group. The witness said Pham had to be restrained by her friends.

Zavala and Brito’s group walked away, but then came back twice to confront Pham, 23, who broke free from her friends and threw the first punch, Andrade said the witness told him.

Pham was kicked in the head by a woman after tumbling to the ground in the scrum, the officer said.

Hospital tests revealed there were no traces of drugs in Pham’s system, but Andrade said alcohol was detected, though he didn’t know her blood-alcohol level.

Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Troy Pino played a video shot on a cellphone of the incident and asked Santa Ana homicide Det. Leo Rodriguez to identify those involved in the fight.

He first identified Zavala, who appeared to be stooping over and reaching for something on the ground with her right hand. Seconds later, the video shows a woman wearing black pants, a black shirt and a blue sweater launching what investigators believe was the first punch in the altercation.

“That is victim Pham,” Rodriguez said.

Brito is singled out moments later, talking to a security guard who had pulled her aside. She is then seen walking around the fight, which spilled onto the ground, and making a kicking motion toward the sidewalk.

The case drew widespread attention because videos of the melee appeared to show other club patrons standing around watching or filming the attack rather than intervening. The incident also led city officials to reassure the public the revived downtown scene was safe.

Prosecutors, however, said that as many as 15 people tried to come to Pham’s aid.

The officers’ testimony came during a preliminary hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to order the women to stand trial in the death of Pham, an aspiring journalist who was out with friends when violence erupted outside a popular restaurant and lounge.

The hearing at the Westminster Justice Center is set to continue Tuesday.

anh.do@latimes.com

adolfo.flores@latimes.com