By Henry K. Lee
San Francisco Chronicle
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Relatives and colleagues of a slain San Jose police officer condemned the killer in court today as a “petty criminal” before the man - deemed mentally disabled - was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
DeShawn Campbell, 29, showed no visible emotion as he was excoriated as a coward and a “wannabe gang member” for killing Officer Jeffrey Fontana with a single shot to the head from a .45-caliber pistol during a traffic stop early Oct. 28, 2001, in San Jose’s Almaden Valley neighborhood.
In May, a Santa Clara County jury found Campbell guilty of second-degree murder, being a felon in possession of a gun and enhancements for using a gun.
In court today, Judge Diane Northway pronounced the sentence, ordering Campbell to spend the rest of his life in prison - on top of a separate sentence of 25 years to life for the gun-possession charge. He will not be eligible for parole.
“This murder was a heinous, brutal and senseless crime,” the judge said.
Moments earlier, the judge heard emotional pleas from family members and San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis that the killer get the maximum sentence.
“It’s still raw to us,” Davis said. “Jeff put himself in harm’s way. Jeff has laid down his life. Jeff did give that last measure of devotion.”
Fontana’s mother, Sandy Fontana, described the devastating toll the slaying had taken on her family, including her two other sons. She also blasted the criminal justice system that forced her to wait nearly eight years for a resolution.
“This is not a justice system,” she told the judge. “This is a criminal system,” she said, describing Campbell as a “petty criminal” and a “wannabe gang member.”
Many in the gallery wept as prosecutor Lane Liroff played a CD on a courtroom screen. Pictures of Fontana as a boy, a young man and as a proud police officer were shown as his friend sang a song that included the lyrics, “Bad man gets to live. Tell me what’s wrong with this world we’re living in. We may never see justice in our courts.”
Jason Fontana said in court that two families “were ruined by this heinous act.” He castigated Campbell for blaming someone else for killing his brother and urged him to “man up and take responsibility.” He also accused the justice system of being “fooled and misguided” into believing that Campbell was mentally disabled, calling that an affront to those who were truly disabled.
Greg Fontana said his brother “was just starting to make a dent in his career” when his life was cut short “by one idiotic move” by a coward.
Outside court, Edwin Campbell, 33, said his brother was the victim of “improper justice. It’s like we lost my brother.”
The trial had been delayed for years by the fight over whether Campbell met the legal definition of retardation, the term the U.S. Supreme Court uses for mentally disabled people. The high court left that definition up to individual states when it declared that executing a mentally retarded person was cruel and unusual punishment.
After initially ruling in 2007 that Campbell was not retarded, Northway reversed herself in December, sparing him from a possible death sentence.
Fontana, a graduate of San Jose State University, had been a patrol officer working alone for only a week when he pulled Campbell’s car over for a traffic stop. The officer was shot as he approached the car. His handgun was still holstered when police found his body. Campbell was arrested after a 10-day manhunt.
Campbell was wanted on two felony warrants and was afraid Fontana’s traffic stop would result in his being returned to prison, authorities said.
Copyright 2009 San Francisco Chronicle