Napa Judge Grants "Second Chance" to 23-Year-Old Vallejo Man

CLARIFICATION: The story below has been modified to correct the town where Anthony Gee was living in 2007 from American Canyon to Fairfield. The "sweet 16" party he attended when he was killed was in American Canyon.
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As tears flowed throughout a Napa County Superior Courtroom Monday, Judge Michael Williams granted a suspended sentence and five years probation to Marquis Douglas, 23, of Vallejo in the case of a 2007 shooting incident that killed Anthony Gee, 16, of Fairfield.

The suspended sentence, the result of a plea deal offered earlier this year by Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein, means that Douglas, who was 16 at the time of shooting, is a free man unless he violates the terms of his probation. If he does so, he will have to serve a full 14 years in prison.

"This is one of the more extraordinary moments I've ever experienced," said Lieberstein, after members of the Gee family spoke in court about their wish that Douglas, who has already served 6 1/2 years in prison, would thrive in his "second chance" at life. "I believe justice was done here today."

"I felt he understood my pain," Gee's mother Kathy Gee Jackson, said later in the court's hallway. "I felt he will be honoring Anthony by taking his second chance to make the world a better place.

"I don't think I'll ever be healed," she added, noting that her morning Bible reading Monday was to "turn the other cheek." "But I have to keep going forward...I had to release the poison in my heart."

Gee's father, Leland Gee of Santa Rosa, told Douglas and the court that he has experienced a heart-opening "transformation" in turning his grief over the loss of his son into compassion for Douglas.

"Honor my son, and honor yourself, your friends, your family, your loved ones," Gee told Douglas. "Live every day like it's your last day on Earth, and be the best person you can be."

Douglas's second chance came in May when a federal judge overturned his 2008 second-degree murder conviction, saying the trial court gave an improper jury instruction. He had been serving a 20-years-to-life prison term on the conviction.

Douglas, who admits that he brought the gun to the American Canyon "sweet 16" party where Anthony was killed, was also serving his time for discharge of a firearm and shooting into an inhabited house -- even though it was Douglas's older brother, Junor Douglas, who actually shot the firearm.

Junor Douglas is serving a 70-years-to-life state prison term for killing Gee.

In September, Douglas pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and being armed with a firearm. He previously pleaded guilty to witness intimidation and being a minor in possession of a firearm and ammunition. The latter guilty pleas were not addressed by the federal judge.

"I now have clarity on who I am today as a person," said Douglas, reading a letter to the judge and the courtroom on Monday. "I am regretful and shameful for what I did as a 16-year-old."

"I have changed myself for the better" in prison by reading, writing, getting  counseling and taking various programs and "growing mentally and spiritually," he said. "I am no longer a confused kid -- I have opened my heart and mind."

He said his years of reflection and remorse have convinced him that "there is never a need to carry a gun," he said.

He promised "never to touch a gun again" and said he would be "sharing the story of my life" to help other youth.

Douglas also recounted the actual events of the night of the shooting on Jan. 27, 2007. Among the details was that he said he left the gun in the car when he and his brother and a friend went into the party.

"I was told we didn't need it, since we were in American Canyon," he said.

However, when a group of youths from Vallejo showed up at the party and there were signs of an impending fight, his brother told him to get the gun out of the car and then demanded that Marquis give it to him, Douglas said. His brother fired two shots up in the air and then one shot into the house -- the latter being the shot that struck Gee.

"I apologize to Anthony's mother and father and family," he said. "If I had never brought a gun to the party, the death would not have occurred."

Williams, in accepting the plea arrangement and granting the suspended sentence, said he was swayed by the "extraordinary generosity of the Gee family," he said.

"I've never experienced anything quite like it," he said of Monday's court hearing.

Lieberstein, Williams and defense attorney Mervin Lernhart all testified that Douglas's behavior in prison was exemplary and that he had spent the time in self-improvement instead of gang affiliation and violence. Originally sent to a maximum security prison, Douglas was ultimately transferred to low-security San Quentin State Prison because of his conduct while incarcerated.

Douglas will be released to his mother, Arleatha Warrior-Griffin, in Vallejo, who told the judge that she believed her son was feeling "the deepest remorse you can imagine, and the deepest spirituality you can imagine."

Later, outside the courtroom, she sobbed while embracing Kathy Gee Jackson, as the two families and their friends and supporters joined in group prayers.

"I think Anthony would want us to forgive him," said Alfred Jackson, Anthony Gee's step-father.

Among the multiple conditions of Douglas's probation are to stay away from the Gee family, maintain a curfew and not use drugs or alcohol. Williams said he would allow Douglas to be present in a restaurant that served alcohol if it were required by his employment.

He has set up a network of support, including the VOICES program in Napa County and retired Pastor Morris Curry, a chaplain at San Quentin for 10 years and a volunteer pastor at the prison for 25 years.

Douglas also will have to pay an estimated $20,000 or more in restitution and fees, and serve 200 hours of community service -- including speaking to youth about his journey

"I hope he can inspire others not to make the same mistakes -- and maybe save some lives," Lieberstein said.

"I hope he would be a hero to many, which could give meaning to Anthony's life," Lieberstein said. "For the Gee family, that could be priceless."