Man convicted of Upland murder sentenced to 16 years to life in prison
RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- An Upland man convicted of murdering his neighbor was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison Friday in West Valley Superior Court.
Prosecutors said Lance William Green stabbed Jeffery Owen Gardiner in the stomach in April 2007 after Green and Gardiner's son began arguing with each other on the street in the 1900 block of Belmar Way.
Gardiner, 37, intervened, and Green retrieved a kitchen knife from his father's home that he used to stab Gardiner. Gardiner died at his home six days later from complications.
Before the sentencing portion of the hearing, Green, 31, acted as his own attorney in a defiant bid for a new trial.
Green told Judge Mary Fuller that his court-appointed attorney, Robert Von Schlichting, did not defend him competently.
He told the judge he retrieved the knife to protect himself from Gardiner, who was holding a brick and threatening to kill him.
Green also said Gardiner died from medical malpractice following the stabbing.
Green said Von Schlichting failed to present evidence supporting Green's self-defense and medical-malpractice claims during his trial.
He also told Fuller that she ruled incorrectly when she excluded a doctor's testimony indicating that medical malpractice led to Gardiner's death.
"I'm not guilty," Green insisted. "I'm not guilty of murder."
Fuller rejected Green's bid for a new trial, then sentenced Green to state prison.
The prison term includes 15 years to life for second-degree murder, and an additional year for using a knife in the commission of the crime.
Green filed his notice of appeal at the end of Friday's hearing.
Leave a comment