Action by U.S. High Court Frees O.C. Man From Jail

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a ruling that overturned an Orange County man’s 1990 burglary conviction, freeing him from a 16-year prison sentence.

Joseph Ray McBath, incarcerated at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, “should be freed immediately,” said his appellate attorney, Robert Franklin Howell.

“This is wonderful news. Mr. McBath didn’t receive effective legal assistance at his trial, and there was no evidence of guilt,” said Howell, a San Diego attorney appointed to appeal McBath’s conviction.

McBath, who had a previous felony record, was convicted in 1990 of attempted burglary of a Fountain Valley apartment. Because of his record, McBath was sentenced in 1991 to 16 years in state prison.

Two witnesses, including the apartment’s resident, identified McBath at trial.

His conviction was upheld by the 4th District Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court.

Howell successfully filed an appeal in federal court and a magistrate ruled there had been insufficient evidence to convict McBath.

The California attorney general’s office, which represented the Orange County district attorney’s office in the appellate process, appealed to a U.S. District Court judge, who overruled the magistrate.

Howell appealed the federal judge’s ruling, which reinstated McBath’s conviction, to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which once again reversed the earlier decision and upheld the magistrate’s ruling.

The attorney general’s office appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but on Monday the justices let stand the circuit court’s ruling without comment.

“I’m disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision,” said Deputy Atty. Gen. William Wood, who filed the state’s brief at the Supreme Court. “It’s disappointing that [a case] fairly clear cut and dry has resulted in a pingpong ball effect, simply because of judicial review. There was more than sufficient evidence in this case to convict.”

But Howell, who said he has handled McBath’s case without charge for five years, said the only evidence against his client was the testimony of the apartment resident, who testified she saw McBath through a peephole, knocking at her door.

“She called police and said a black man had knocked at her door. Mr. McBath was picked up a while later about a mile away. That’s basically the evidence that got him convicted,” said Howell.

The federal magistrate who overturned McBath’s conviction found that there had been insufficient evidence at trial of McBath’s intent to steal.