Man Says He, Not Brother, Committed ’85 Murder : Courts: Xavier Sanders testifies that his brother wrongly served eight years in prison for shooting a Compton man. Prosecutors remain skeptical of revelation.

In an effort to clear his brother, who he said wrongfully served eight years in prison, Xavier Sanders testified Thursday that it was he--not brother Sheldon--who fired the bullet that apparently killed an 18-year-old Compton man in 1985.

Xavier Sanders, 31, said in Compton Superior Court that in retaliation for some damage to a family car, he had fired two shots from a rifle in the direction of a Compton house where Norman Gregory, 18, was shot to death nine years ago.

After firing one bullet at a car in the Gregory home’s driveway, Xavier said, “I turned in the general direction of the house, pointed the gun in the air and shot it.” He said that his 29-year-old brother, who served eight years of a 17-year-to-life sentence in connection with the case, had not handled the weapon.

Sheldon Sanders was released from prison in April after a federal appeals court found “a substantial possibility of his actual innocence” of the crime. The district attorney’s office subsequently refiled the case; Sheldon is now free in lieu of a $50,000 surety bond put up by his parents.

This is the third time Sheldon Sanders has been tried for Gregory’s death-- his first trial ended in a hung jury, the second in a conviction--but it is the first time that Xavier Sanders has testified.

Xavier said he had offered to appear in the first trial but was advised by a court-appointed lawyer to invoke his 5th Amendment right not to incriminate himself. At the second trial, Xavier testified Thursday, he went to the courtroom to offer himself as a witness, “but I was told (by Sheldon’s lawyer) to leave from the court building.”

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ordered Sheldon’s release, found that his lawyer in the second trial had “evidenced a Gargantuan indifference to the interests of his client and clearly prejudiced his client’s defense” by, among other things, failing to call Xavier to the stand.

“I’ve been coming for years to tell the truth,” Xavier said Thursday.

Prosecutor Frank Duarte, in a scathing cross-examination, suggested that Xavier was trying to make amends for goading Sheldon into an act of revenge after a fistfight. Xavier denied the allegation.

Other officials in the district attorney’s office have suggested that Xavier’s admission is an attempt by the Sanders family to manipulate the criminal justice system, since prosecuting Xavier nine years after the killing would be complex.

The shooting occurred after an argument at the Gregory residence on North Slater Avenue. Two Gregory brothers, Norman and David, allegedly punched Sheldon and broke the windshield of the car he was driving. Sheldon returned later with two of his brothers.

Four witnesses, most of whom were clustered around Norman Gregory when the shots were fired, have identified Sheldon in court as the shooter. But three of those witnesses told police investigating the shooting that it was Xavier.

Another Sanders brother, Kelvin, testified Wednesday that Xavier had done the shooting. In prior trials, however, Kelvin denied being at the scene.

Xavier said he was firing randomly rather than at anyone in the Gregory house. “I didn’t particularly aim at the door,” he said.