Fresno County jail inmate with terminal cancer asks judge to let him die at home
A 21-year-old jail inmate with terminal cancer will be allowed to spend his remaining days at home, despite concerns from the judge and prosecutor about his violent past.
On Thursday, Judge Jon Kapetan approved the compassionate release for Anthony Sandoval.
Kapetan was initially reluctant to release Sandoval, calling him a dangerous individual. But he changed his mind after listening to the arguments from Sandoval’s defense attorney, Charles Barrett.
Barrett did not deny Sandoval’s criminal past or his current charges of assault with a firearm and robbery. He and two accomplices are accused of being involved in the non-fatal shooting of a street vendor in central Fresno on Oct. 18, 2020.
Sandoval was facing three years and eight months, plus 25 to life if he was convicted.
In his motion to the court, Barrett provided a letter from one of Sandoval’s doctors, who said the 21-year-old has terminal lung cancer.
“It is my belief that the patient has days to weeks to live,” wrote Dr. Patrick MacMillam of UCSF’s Palliative Medicine Division.
MacMillam wrote that given Sandoval’s debilitating condition, he does not “deem him a threat to anyone and feels the patient would be better served if he could be on hospice at home with his family.”
Barrett said Sandoval is currently in a skilled nursing facility, where the family has limited access to him because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Kapetan agreed to allow Sandoval to be cared for at his home, under certain conditions. Kapetan ordered Sandoval be on an electronic monitoring program and he must sign a pre-trial release contract.
Deputy District Attorney Emily Fernandez was opposed to letting Sandoval stay at home.
Fernandez said that along with his current charges, he previously was charged with car jacking and burglary.
The prosecutor also worried about the victim in Sandoval’s most recent crime.
“This was a life-altering event for this victim,” Fernandez said. “This individual broke his femur and he had an entry and exit wound. He also had multiple injuries to his shoulder and he will likely never live his life the same way. People may fear this might happen to some other innocent person, if he is let out.”
