A swastika-tattooed man was convicted Monday of berating and menacing a pregnant Black lady and threatening the lifetime of her unborn youngster and now faces at the very least 38 years in jail after the Orange County district lawyer appealed an earlier sentence he referred to as too “lenient.”
The case started almost seven years in the past, when Tyson Theodore Mayfield, a self-proclaimed skinhead, berated and menaced a pregnant Black lady ready for her bus on a Fullerton bench, in response to prosecutors.
The then-42-year-old Mission Viejo man clenched his fists and threatened the lifetime of the girl’s unborn youngster, in response to a prison grievance.
The lady, referred to as Jane Doe in court docket paperwork, fled and referred to as Fullerton police, who didn’t find the person.
She quickly returned to the bench and so did Mayfield, who threatened her once more amid a barrage of racial slurs, in response to court docket paperwork.
This time, Doe tucked into a close-by restaurant and referred to as the police, who discovered and apprehended Mayfield.
That arrest and a responsible plea on two felony counts and one misdemeanor rely initially resulted in a five-year sentence. After a collection of court docket disputes and strain from teams, together with the Orange County district lawyer’s workplace, Mayfield will serve at the very least 38 years, in response to prosecutors.
Tyson Theodore Mayfield
(Orange County District Legal professional)
“I hope that nobody else ever has to really feel absolutely the blood-chilling terror this younger mom described as she needed to run for her life, and the lifetime of her child, not due to what she did, however due to the colour of her pores and skin,” Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer mentioned in a press release.
A name to the general public defender’s workplace was not returned.
Mayfield, now 49, was charged with one felony rely of creating a hate crime prison risk with the flexibility to commit a violent damage, one felony rely of prison threats and one misdemeanor rely of petty theft in September 2018.
He plead responsible in Might 2019 and was initially supplied a two-year sentence, in response to the DA’s workplace. Orange County Superior Courtroom Decide Roger B. Robbins finally upped the sentence to 5 years, however dropped one in every of Mayfield’s earlier two strikes, in response to the DA’s workplace.
That motion prevented Mayfield from dealing with California’s a lot harsher three-strikes sentencing, which calls for at least 25 years imprisonment.
Mayfield was beforehand convicted for felony assault with a lethal weapon in 2005 and felony mayhem in 2008 in Orange County. He was additionally charged and convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime utilizing a racial slur and punching a person in 2017.
Spitzer disagreed with Robbins, arguing that the five-year sentence was too “lenient,” and teams such because the NAACP and the Orange County Human Relations Fee rallied in help of Doe.
“He’s indiscriminately selecting out individuals on the road as a result of he doesn’t like the best way they give the impression of being and utilizing violence in opposition to them,” Spitzer mentioned of Mayfield in court docket in 2019. “Is a five-year sentence going to guard society in opposition to somebody so evil?”
Ultimately, Spitzer appealed to California’s 4th District Courtroom of Appeals later that 12 months, claiming that Robbins abused his discretion as a choose to drop a strike.
The appeals court docket agreed with Spitzer, noting that Robbins’ motion shocked them.
The case was despatched again to trial court docket and was delayed, in response to Kimberly Edds, the district lawyer’s director of public affairs, because the protection argued that their shopper wasn’t mentally sound.
Mayfield finally stood trial, was discovered responsible Monday and is due again in court docket Aug. 29 the place faces a sentence of at the very least 38 years in jail.
“Whereas Decide Robbins ignored that younger lady’s pleas for justice, fortunately the jury didn’t ignore the info and convicted Tyson Mayfield of precisely what he did: threaten a pregnant black lady as a result of he’s a racist,” Spitzer mentioned. “We’ll by no means enable hate to win.”
