El Cajon

An El Cajon man twice found guilty of second-degree murder for scalding his infant niece in a bathtub has again had his conviction reversed by a state appellate court.

Joseph Gentile, described by prosecutors as mildly retarded, has been serving a prison term of 15 years to life in the Aug. 5, 1981, death of 1-year-old Tiffany Wilson.

After his first conviction in 1982 was overturned by the 4th District Court of Appeal, prosecutors offered Gentile a plea bargain under which he could have pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and been freed from jail. But Gentile insisted on going to trial, saying he wanted a jury to clear his name.

In a 42-page decision issued Wednesday, the appellate court said jurors in Gentile’s second trial were allowed to hear inadmissible testimony from child abuse experts. Jurors also were not instructed that Gentile had to have shown “culpable negligence” to be found guilty.

The three-judge appellate panel also held that there was insufficient evidence that Gentile deliberately placed his niece in a tub filled with burning-hot water.