Fresno jury: Former California gubernatorial candidate eligible for Three Strikes

A Fresno County jury ruled Thursday that former California gubernatorial candidate Tye Glenn Champ Jr. has three prior felony convictions that make him eligible for a sentence of 25 years to life in prison under the state’s Three Strikes law.

Champ appeared disappointed when the verdict was announced in Superior Court.

Defense attorney Eric Schweitzer told Judge Gary Hoff that he plans to file a motion that will contest the legality of two of the convictions.

According to Schweitzer, court records show that Champ was represented by the Public Defender’s Office when he pleaded no contest to felony sex charges in 1993. The court documents say the Public Defender’s Office also represented the two victims.

Schweitzer said Thursday it is unconstitutional for the Public Defender to represent both the victims and the defendant in the same case. “The right to appropriate counsel can’t be waived,” Schweitzer said, and there is no mention in court papers that says Champ waived that right.

To give Schweitzer time to file his motion, Hoff delayed Champ’s sentencing until Jan. 8.

Champ’s trial was unusual because it was split into two parts.

On Tuesday, the jury of six men and six women completed the first phase by finding Champ guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a felony, and guilty of misdemeanor vandalism for slashing the tires of an ATV.

But jurors deadlocked 9-3 for not guilty on the more serious charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the shooting of John Harrison Price III outside his Prather home in August 2014. To reach a verdict, the jury must be unanimous.

Jurors also found Champ not guilty of a felony charge of animal cruelty in connection with the death of a horse named Gypsy.

In the second phase of the trial, jurors had the task of determining whether Champ is a career criminal.

In a hearing Wednesday, prosecutor Dennis Verzosa told the jury that certified copies of court records and copies of records from the California Department of Justice clearly show that Champ pleaded to the manslaughter charge in October 1998 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The documents also show that Champ pleaded to assault with intent to commit rape and assault with intent to commit oral copulation in June 1993 and was sentenced to probation, Verzosa said.

Schweitzer conceded the manslaughter conviction, since Champ admitted to it during the first phase of his most recent trial. But Schweitzer pointed out to the jury that the Department of Justice documents say one count of assault with the intent to commit rape was dismissed. Schweitzer also told the jury about the Public Defender’s Office conflict in representing both Champ and the victims in the 1993 case.

In addition, Schweitzer questioned the fairness of the convictions since the documents say Champ pleaded to the sex crimes in June 1993 – unaware that the convictions would constitute two strikes under the law that wasn’t enacted until March 1994.

The jury deliberated nearly two hours Thursday before finding the three convictions were true.

Champ has been in the Fresno County jail since his arrest on Aug. 8, 2014.

In his bid for governor in the June 2014 primary election, Champ received 76,066 votes, which was 1.8 percent of the statewide tally.

The District Attorney’s Office can retry Champ on the deadlocked counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Verzosa told the judge he first has to speak with his bosses before deciding whether to retry Champ.

Outside court, Verzosa acknowledged the hard-fought battle to convict Champ. “At the end of the day, we respect the jury’s verdict,” he said. “That’s what makes the American system of justice unique.”

But one of Champ’s relatives, Sandi Camp, said: “I don’t think the judicial system works. I think the judicial system stinks because he has already paid his dues for what happened in the past.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Fresno jury: Former California gubernatorial candidate eligible for Three Strikes."