Months after the 2001 Santana High School shooter's 50-year-to-life prison sentence was wiped out by a judge, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan testified before an Assembly committee today in support of a bill that would close what she called "a dangerous loophole" in the state's sentencing laws.
Assembly Bill 1959, authored by Assemblywoman Darshana Patel, D-San Diego, would revise laws governing defendants sentenced to prison for crimes they committed as juveniles.
The District Attorney's Office says the current state of the law allowed Charles Andrew "Andy" Williams, who killed two students and wounded more than a dozen other victims at the Santee campus, to have his case potentially transferred to juvenile court, which could result in his release.
The office says current laws hold that if a judge finds a defendant eligible for re-sentencing, their cases are transferred to juvenile court if the defendant was under 16 when they committed their crimes. Williams was 15 at the time of the shooting.
Defendants who were 16 or 17 instead face transfer hearings after they are found eligible for re-sentencing and could find their cases back in adult court.
AB 1959 would change the existing process to also require transfer hearings for defendants who were under 16.
"This law would close a dangerous loophole for juvenile offenders under 16 that results in their immediate release without any meaningful demonstration of rehabilitation, remorse, or assurance of public safety," Stephan said in a statement.
"Instead of thorough re-sentencing, they move directly to a juvenile disposition, often resulting in release without a true assessment of risk or justice for victims."
Phil Ortiz, an El Cajon city councilman who was a student at Santana High School during the shooting, also testified in support of AB 1959.
"The victims of the shooting at Santana High School have no ability to be free from their physical, mental and emotional wounds, including Randy Gordon and Brian Zuckor who were killed. Therefore, perpetrators shouldn't be free from the consequences of their actions," Ortiz said. "The damage to the victims is permanent and the consequences to the perpetrators should be permanent as well."
Current laws offer re-sentencing relief for juvenile defendants who have served at least 15 years of a life-without-parole sentence.
While Williams' sentence was not life without parole, Superior Court Judge Lisa Rodriguez ruled that he was eligible for re-sentencing as his sentence was the "functional equivalent" of a life without parole term, because such lengthy prison terms don't give defendants the opportunity to become meaningful members of society as the law envisioned.
The District Attorney's Office has appealed Rodriguez's decision, but a state appellate court has not issued a ruling in the case. Williams, now 40, remains in custody in the meantime.
The DA's Office contends that factors considered at transfer hearings, such as risks to the public, will not be weighed if Williams' case goes to juvenile court, and noted Williams was previously found unsuitable for release in 2024 by the state parole board, which found that he was still a public safety risk and lacked insight into the reasons why he committed the shooting.
At the time of the parole hearing, Williams issued a statement through his attorney that called the shooting "violent and inexcusable."
His statement continued, "I had no right to barge into the lives of my victims, to blame them for my own suffering and the callous choices I made. I had no right to cause the loss of life, pain, terror, confusion, fear, trauma, and financial burden that I caused.
"I am sorry for the physical scars and for the psychological scars I created, and for the lives and families that I ripped a hole in. It is my intention to live a life of service and amends, to honor those I killed and those I harmed, and to put proof behind my words of remorse. I wish so badly that I could undo all the hurt and terror I put you through. With the deepest remorse, I am forever sorry."
