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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A man who fatally shot a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy trying to serve a warrant at his family's La Puente home in 1979 will remain behind bars and on death row, with a judge Tuesday rejecting a petition claiming that critical information was withheld from defense attorneys during his original trial.
Jesse Gonzales, now 75, has long maintained that he did not know the people who came to the door of the home in May 1979 were law enforcement officers. Noting that the deputies were not in uniform, he claimed he feared members of a rival gang were forcing their way into the home by claiming to be law enforcement, and he opened fire in self-defense.
He wound up fatally shooting Deputy Jack Williams -- a father of two daughters. He was ultimately convicted of murder, with a special circumstance allegation of killing a law enforcement officer, and was sentenced to death.
Last year, however, a renewed petition was filed in which the District Attorney's Office conceded that the original conviction relied in part on testimony by a jailhouse informant who contended that Gonzales told him he knew the people at his door were law enforcement, and he wanted to "bag a cop."
Prosecutors contended in court papers filed last year that the informant's credibility was in question, noting that he had acted as an informant in several cases, and psychologists who examined him determined he had a history of lying.
The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs -- the union that represents sheriffs deputies -- called the filing part of an attempt by District Attorney George Gascón, a vocal opponent of the death penalty, to overturn all capital punishment cases.
"Gascón likes to make public statements that suggest he is a prosecutor who is serious about violent offenders, but his actions and policies reveal otherwise," according to a statement from the union. "Worse, his actions lack transparency, and he hides information when he thinks it will not be perceived well politically. In an attempt to shift blame and duck responsibility for his own policies, Gascón tried to get Deputy Williams' daughters to agree to a change in sentence. When that didn't work, he now is poised to lay the blame for overturning the conviction on the judge."
In court Tuesday, however, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Lomeli rejected the latest petition, effectively maintaining Gonzales' conviction and death sentence.
In an earlier interview with ABC7, Gascón denied that he wants Gonzales to be released from prison.
"Mr. Gonzalez deserves to stay in prison the rest of his life, but there is a principle involved in ensuring that we, as the government, we as police, as prosecutors, follow the rules," he said. "We are not seeking his release. We will fight to make sure that he stays in prison. We will fight, but we will play by the rules."
Gascón said the original prosecutors in the case had a duty to turn over to Gonzales' defense team reports that showed the jailhouse informant who testified against him was "a pathological liar, that he was manipulative, and that he would fake things in order to try to get whatever he wanted."
Gonzales' attorney, Mark Overland, told the station that his client deserves to be freed based on the flawed testimony. He insisted that Gonzales does not pose a danger to society and requires the use of a wheelchair.
ALADS officials, however, said that while he has been imprisoned, Gonzales has "risen through the ranks and is now a shot-caller for the Mexican Mafia," a notorious prison-based gang. "Shot-callers order hits (murders) and direct gang activities from inside the prison."
Sheriff Robert Luna and other department members were among those in the courtroom for Tuesday's hearing.