After denying a motion for a new trial, a judge sentenced Michael David Sullivan to 16-years to life in state prison on July 15 for the fatal stabbing of Jonathan Lefler-Panela outside a Pacific Beach restaurant in 2006.
Sullivan’s mother and a woman he married while in jail wept after hearing the judgment from San Diego Superior Court Judge Frank Brown. A jury convicted Sullivan, 28, a former Pacific Beach resident, of second-degree murder on July 24, 2007, following 14 days of deliberations over nearly a month’s time period.
Sullivan got a new attorney, Elizabeth Missakian, who studied the 17-volume transcript of the murder trial and claimed his trial attorney made mistakes. She also suggested jurors did not start their deliberations over after they lost several jurors and had alternate jurors replace them.
Brown said no jury misconduct occurred.
Missakian asked the charge be reduced to voluntary manslaughter, but Brown said, “I thought second-degree murder was appropriate.”
The Jan. 8, 2006, slaying outside Sam’s by the Sea restaurant on Ocean Boulevard was the first homicide in 2006. Lefler-Panela, 25, of Mission Valley, was stabbed between 14 and 17 times in the parking lot around 2 a.m.
Judith Lefler, the victim’s mother, told Sullivan’s friends and family they “can see Michael Sullivan again. I will never see my son again.”
“He wasn’t a tough street guy. Jon didn’t have the opportunity to fight back,” Lefler said. “He loved people. He was witty and funny. He was loving and kind to me.”
Turning to Sullivan, Lefler said: “I hope you become a better person, that you can turn yourself around. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll be at every parole hearing. I hope you do something with your life.”
Christine Sullivan, the defendant’s mother, told the judge she thought her son would get a new trial. She said her son is “a really good man” and added that “I feel so sorry for the other family.”
A young woman who only identified herself as Sullivan’s wife and did not give her name to the court said Sullivan “feels so bad as to what happened.”
“This has taken years off his life,” she said. “I feel so horrible for the other family.”
Karla Sullivan, the defendant’s sister, said he has great remorse.
Brown told Sullivan’s relatives to remind themselves that “he’s still here” while the other man was not. Brown added that he did believe Sullivan had remorse, but he had no discretion in the sentencing.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Myers said the verdict was not affected by Sullivan’s trial attorney, Kerry Steigerwalt,
Brown gave Sullivan credit for spending 756 days in jail and suspended all fines for him. Sullivan had posted $1 million bond and was free for about six months following the slaying, but Brown raised his bail to $5 million, and the defendant was housed in the downtown central jail since then.
Sullivan testified he stabbed Lefler-Panela in self defense after being tackled outside the restaurant. Sullivan threw the first punch inside the restaurant, and security personnel ejected both men. Sullivan said he was about to drive away when he remembered he left a friend behind, and when he returned, he walked right into Lefler-Panela.
Sullivan claimed Lefler-Panela pinned him to the ground and bit his nose. He testified he pulled a knife from his back pocket and repeatedly stabbed the victim until he could get up and leave.
The jury deliberations were prolonged because several jurors had loved ones pass away, and others became ill, so they could not meet every day. Jurors were ordered to start their deliberations anew once they got a new member of the jury from the alternate jurors.