Eric Brockway released from jail after accepting plea offer in death threat case
A man accused of threatening to kill an alleged victim and witness following his acquittal on attempted murder charges has been released from police custody after agreeing to plead guilty to a felony count of witness intimidation.
Eric Brockway, 34, was arrested and charged with four felonies in September after he told a mental-health professional he needed care because of his homicidal thoughts.
Less than a week before his visit to the Yucaipa clinic, Brockway was acquitted by a Pomona Superior Court jury of the attempted murder of David Gregory, a Mt. Baldy resident who nearly died in 2007 after being hacked with a samurai sword.
The jury convicted Brockway's brother, Wesley Brockway, at the brothers' attempted murder trial.
Click here for archived blog posts on the Brockway brothers' case.
Eric Brockway told the intake official at the clinic he had urges to kill Gregory and a witness because he said the men lied on the witness stand during the trial, according to police reports.
The mental-health worker reported the threat, and Brockway was arrested by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy -- the same deputy who was the investigating officer in Brockway's attempted-murder case.
On Tuesday, Brockway agreed to plead guilty to a single felony count of witness intimidation, and was released because the four-plus months he had spent in in jail covered the jail sentence the conviction carried, said Joe Borges, Brockway's defense attorney.
Brockway faced up to 14 years in prison if convicted of the four felony counts filed by prosecutors.
Borges said he advised Brockway to reject the plea offer because Borges felt he could win the case at trial.
Brockway decided to take the plea offer because he wanted to get out of jail, Borges said.
He had been in custody since his September arrest because he was unable to make $1 million bail.
Brockway plans to go back to school, Borges said.
"He's happy to be out," Borges said. "He's going to go live with his mother and father. He never wants to see the mountains or those people again."
Borges said he believes prosecutors offered Brockway a relatively lenient plea offer because they recognized the weaknesses of their case.
"I think they knew they had a weak case," Borges said.
Brockway will be on probation for three years, Borges said.
Borges, who also represented Brockway during his trial for attempted murder, has said Brockway had no intention of harming Gregory or the other witness.
Brockway was seeking medical attention for his bipolar disorder -- which had gone untreated following his acquittal and release from jail -- when he told the mental-health worker he wanted to kill the men, Borges said.
Brockway also told the worker he wanted to kill himself, according to a police report.
"I wish (Brockway) well," Borges said. "He's actually a nice young guy."
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