Judge Wants Longer Term for Killer of Youth at Party

Saying 16 years in prison is not long enough, a Superior Court judge Monday refused to sentence a man who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a teen-ager at a La Mesa party in January.

Judge Jesus Rodriguez refused to sentence Nadir Jamil Mikhail, and he threw out the plea that the man entered in May before Municipal Judge Janet I. Kinter.

“I can’t live with it (the sentence), based on the damage this individual has done,” Rodriguez said.

He set a trial date of Aug. 20, when Mikhail will face charges of murder and attempted murder.

Mikhail, 20, pleaded guilty May 21 to voluntary manslaughter and admitted to using a gun in the Jan. 26 death of 19-year-old Robbie Allan Loftis. Charles Hall, 19, was also wounded in the attack.

The shootings, which occurred in a driveway in the 11300 block of Explorer Road, took place at a party that got out of hand at a residence where the parents had left town for the weekend.

As a result of Mikhail’s plea, which was made a few hours before a jury was to hear opening statements in his murder trial, the Iraqi national faced a sentence of up to 16 years.

Rodriguez said he was setting aside a plea for the first time during his five years on the bench. “I think this person deserves much more than 16 years,” the judge said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gordon Davis objected when Rodriguez said he was going to invalidate the guilty plea. The prosecutor said the judge did not have the legal authority to order a trial, because Mikhail was not given any promises about his sentence.

After Rodriguez’s ruling, Davis said prosecutors had difficulties both with witnesses and certain pieces of evidence. He also said his office and the families of the two victims were happy with the voluntary-manslaughter conviction.

“We believed a voluntary manslaughter with gun use with a maximum exposure of 16 years was acceptable,” Davis said.

Defense attorney John Ronis said Monday’s ruling brings the case “back to square one.”

Although he hesitated to comment on the case because it appears headed to trial, Ronis said he thought a sentence of 10 years would have been appropriate.

Mikhail is being held in lieu of $1.5-million bail, partly because he fled to Mexico immediately after the shooting.