Fresno man sentenced to 10 years in prison for 2012 killing

A Fresno man who contends he didn’t kill anyone was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison in connection with the shooting death of a man nearly three years ago.

On June 8, Dexter Brazeal, 30, pleaded no contest in Fresno County Superior Court to felony manslaughter.

Police contend he shot Wayne Devine, 35, multiple times in broad daylight at the Kearney Cooley Plaza apartment complex in southwest Fresno on July 7, 2012.

In his criminal trial in April this year, nine jurors said Brazeal was not guilty of murder. Three jurors said he was guilty.

Because the jury was not unanimous, prosecutors could have retried Brazeal.

Instead, prosecutors offered Brazeal a plea deal with a stipulated term of 10 years in prison. Though he says he is innocent, Brazeal accepted the plea agreement to avoid the risk of being convicted in a second trial, defense attorney Linden Lindahl said Wednesday.

Under the law, a defendant can plead no contest to a crime he didn’t commit to avoid serious consequences, Lindahl said.

In this case, if Brazeal had been convicted of murder, he would have faced life behind bars.

Lindahl said Brazeal accepted the plea agreement because he wanted to see his children again. Brazeal also didn’t want to face the stress associated with a murder trial, the lawyer said.

Under the plea agreement, Brazeal admitted he has a prior conviction for carjacking when he was a juvenile. He also told Judge Jonathan Conklin he went to prison in 2007 on a gun charge.

This story was originally published July 8, 2015 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Fresno man sentenced to 10 years in prison for 2012 killing."