Prosecutors No Longer Seeking Death for 1981 Murder

A 60-year-old man whose 1982 conviction in the robbery-murder of a Newport Beach retiree was overturned will no longer face the death penalty, a prosecutor told an Orange County Superior Court judge today.

James Andrew Melton's death penalty verdict was overturned in January 2007 by U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi. Melton was convicted in December 1982 of first-degree murder in the slaying of 77-year-old Anthony DeSousa in October 1981. Takasugi ruled that Melton could not understand what was happening during his trial because of the psychiatric medications that were given to him.

Melton had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from violence and sexual abuse as a child and had a history of alcohol and drug abuse beginning when he was a child, but he does not suffer from schizophrenia or any organic brain disorder, the judge ruled.

The federal judge's ruling meant Melton had to stand trial again in state court. On June 22, a hearing will be held on a motion to dismiss charges and a tentative trial date has been set for July 27. Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy told Orange County Superior Court Judge William Froeberg that prosecutors no longer wanted to pursue the death penalty against Melton.

He did not state a reason for the decision. DeSousa was strangled in his Newport Beach condominium after he had placed an advertisement in a gay newspaper seeking companionship. Melton's conviction was upheld numerous times by the appellate and state supreme court before Takasugi ordered a new trial.

-City News Service