Inmate Faces Murder Charge in Melee

Dist. Atty. Robert J. Drossel of Del Norte County said Wednesday he will charge a prisoner with murder in the shooting of another inmate during a racial disturbance last year at Pelican Bay state prison.

The fatal shot was fired by a guard, who authorities said acted to protect a prisoner who was being attacked by another with a knife.

The guard’s action was ruled to be justifiable homicide by Drossel last summer because the officer feared for the life of the inmate who was being attacked.

But Drossel said Wednesday he will file a first-degree murder charge against Jose Luis “Clever” Sanchez, a robber from Los Angeles, because investigators have determined that he was “instrumental in setting up the riot” of Latinos against blacks.

Killed was inmate Miguel Sanchez, 38, a first-degree murderer from Los Angeles.

Drossel said Sanchez was attacking a black prisoner with a long knife when the guard fired a shot. He said Jose Luis Sanchez, no relation to the dead man, also will be charged with attempted murder.

The Feb. 23 melee was one of the bloodiest California prison fights in 30 years. It erupted after months of tension between blacks and Latinos at the Northern California lockup.

Twenty-eight black inmates and three Latinos received knife wounds in the fights; 17 suffered gunshot wounds from guards.