SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A man who shot and killed an Oceanside police officer when he was 17 years old was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, marking the second time he has been sentenced to life without parole for the lawman's slaying.
Meki Gaono, now 36, was convicted of first-degree murder for the Dec. 20, 2006, gang-related slaying of Officer Daniel Bessant. Prosecutors say that while Bessant was assisting another officer on a traffic stop, Gaono trained a rifle on the 25-year-old lawman from down the street and opened fire, killing Bessant and nearly striking another officer.
Gaono was tried as an adult and sentenced in 2009, but due to changes in state law his case went back to the juvenile court's jurisdiction and he was granted a juvenile transfer hearing that he didn't receive at the time of his prosecution.
Had his case remained under the juvenile court's jurisdiction, he likely would have been released from custody and placed under a two-year period of probation, but a judge ruled last month that his case would be in the adult court's jurisdiction.
Gaono then had to be sentenced again and this time he was eligible for a sentence that included the possibility of parole, but San Diego Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh sentenced Gaono on Tuesday to life without parole, plus 51 years to life.
Despite the life without parole sentence, another state law change means Gaono is expected to receive a parole hearing in the coming years because he was a youthful offender.
Prosecutors argued that the life without parole sentence was warranted due to the intentional nature of the killing and the danger to other officers and civilians when Gaono opened fire.
Deputy District Attorney Ted Fiorito called the killing "a callous, orchestrated murder" that happened because "according to Mr. Gaono, the gang was being disrespected by the police." Prosecutors said the killing occurred during a period when Oceanside police were particularly focused on gang activity in the city's "back gate" area near Camp Pendleton.
Gaono's attorney, Jimmy Rodriguez, asked for a 25 year-to-life sentence. During last month's juvenile transfer proceedings and Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Rodriguez argued that Gaono's age at the time of the crime, his upbringing, and his subsequent reformative efforts while incarcerated justified a sentence that included some possibility of being released.
Rodriguez said that when Gaono was originally sentenced, courts were not as informed of the science surrounding adolescent brain development and its effect on youths' decision making. He also argued Gaono grew up in a "gang infested" community, where it was "unusual to not be a part of the gang because it was so intertwined with growing up in that neighborhood."
Since he was originally sentenced, Gaono "reformed himself of his own volition" even before changes to the law afforded him any hope of getting out of prison, Rodriguez said.
The defense attorney said Gaono renounced his gang affiliations while in prison and took a "pact of nonviolence" more than a decade ago.
The judge also heard from Bessant's father, Steve Bessant, and Oceanside Police Chief Taurino Valdovinos, who said he was friends and partners with Bessant. Valdovinos said that due to another engagement, he wasn't able to be there with his partner on the night of Dec. 20.
"I should have been with Dan that night to help protect him," said Valdovinos, who said all the Oceanside police officers who served alongside Bessant "continue to carry the weight of his loss."
After the hearing, Steve Bessant said, "Today's decision was just."
Bessant said his son was born and raised in Oceanside, loved the community, and "took great joy in protecting and serving the people of Oceanside."
Regarding Gaono, Bessant said he holds no ill will toward him, but feels he should be "separated" from society.
"When a police officer checks in, gets in their car, and goes out for their shift, they need to have the reassurance that the community backs them, and that the legal system backs them too. We saw that today."
Along with Gaono, two other gang members were convicted and sentenced in the killing, including co-defendant Penifoti Taeotui, who is expected to seek a similar hearing in the future.
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