Lemon Grove

A man who lost a bid for a new murder trial after his terminally ill attorney died weeks after he was convicted has been sentenced to 16 years-to-life in state prison.

Paul Gabriel Sandoval, 24, of San Diego, who was found guilty of second-degree murder last March in the death of a Lemon Grove man, was also fined $10,000.

His attorney, David Semco, said Tuesday he will file an appeal. At the trial, Sandoval was represented by the late Leif Tessem.

Tessem died of cancer several days after he was admitted to a hospital on March 27. Semco alleged that Tessem took morphine and other pain-killing drugs during the February trial and thus was not effective.

San Diego Superior Court Judge William Howatt denied Sandoval’s motion for a new trial Oct. 4 following lengthy hearings.

On Friday, Howatt, who has been assigned to Vista Superior Court, sentenced Sandoval to prison.

A co-defendant, Shawn McFee, 23, was previously sentenced to 15 years-to-life.

The victim, Bret Fuit, 27, was shot to death Oct. 1, 1985, when he tried to stop a neighborhood dispute. Sandoval was not arrested until August, 1990. Although he was 17 at the time of the shooting, a juvenile court determined he should be tried as an adult.