Spring Valley

A judge Wednesday reinstated a state prison term of 35 years to life for the convicted killer of Sheriff’s Cadet Kelly Bazer.

Jesse Lee Stuart, 21, of San Diego, received the same sentence he had received last year before an appeals court ordered that he be sentenced again with a new attorney.

Stuart was convicted of first-degree murder in the Jan. 13, 1986, death of Bazer, 28, an El Cajon mother of two, who was off duty when confronted by Stuart in Spring Valley.

The 4th District Court of Appeal ruled June 12 that Stuart had to be re-sentenced because his trial attorney, Millie Durovic, was weighing a job offer with the San Diego County district attorney’s office while representing Stuart. Durovic became a prosecutor after Stuart was sentenced, but she denied there was any conflict.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Barbara Gamer said Stuart posed a danger to the community and imposed the same sentence she gave him on Sept. 11, 1986.

She gave 27 years to life for the murder and added 8 years consecutively for Stuart’s armed robbery convictions.

Two co-defendants have previously been sentenced for their roles in the crime. Ronnie Williams, 21, is serving 33 years to life in prison and Prentice Byrd, 20, is serving a sentence with the California Youth Authority.