Man Refuses Plea Bargain in Murder Case
A 22-year-old El Cajon man facing a second trial on charges that he fatally scalded his niece refused Wednesday to accept a plea bargain that would have won him his freedom within months.
Joseph Gentile turned down an offer by Deputy Dist. Atty. Jay Coulter that would have granted him a four-year prison sentence if he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter because he wants a jury to clear his name.
Coulter said in court that the proposed plea bargain could lead to Gentile’s release in a few months because he would receive credit for the years he has been in prison.
Gentile was convicted of second-degree murder by a jury in 1982 and was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison. An Appeal Court later overturned the verdict because the judge did not read an instruction to the jury on involuntary manslaughter.
Jury selection began Wednesday in Gentile’s second murder trial in the Aug. 5, 1981, death of 1-year-old Tiffany Wilson in Gentile’s El Cajon home.
The judge quizzed Gentile carefully about why he was rejecting the offer.
“I understand the offer, but I’d rather go through a trial,” Gentile told the judge.
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