Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Can't get enough of those guns and knives

Michael James Hemphill takes a shot at appealing his case

Michael James Hemphill, 60, is appealing his conviction.
Michael James Hemphill, 60, is appealing his conviction.

Michael James Hemphill was found guilty of first-degree murder at the end of a jury trial in February. Using a handgun, he killed a man in Escondido two years ago. Hemphill was sentenced to 75 years to life plus 5 years on April 23; he has since filed an appeal.

Hemphill, who was born in Glendale, Arizona, in 1955, had a criminal record before the murder case.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In 1980, when Hemphill was 25 years old, he fired a .22 caliber rifle loaded with birdshot at two persons, according to a probation report. That offense was in Costa Mesa, and Hemphill was sentenced to 120 days in jail plus 36 months’ probation. Hemphill was sent to jail for 60 more days for violating probation in that matter, according to records.

In 1985, Hemphill was accused of four new offenses: resisting an officer, trespass, occupying property without consent, and giving false ID to a peace officer; he got ten more days jail for that matter.

Twenty years later, in January of 2005, Hemphill was living in Escondido when police were called. A woman reported that Hemphill had been drinking and they began to argue about money and he punched her in the chest, she told the 911 dispatcher.

While the woman was on the phone, she said Hemphill held a knife against himself and told her that he would tell police that she stabbed him and then they would take her away. Then he took the phone away from her and broke it. Police confirmed that she had a fresh injury to her chest and arrested Hemphill — but then the woman refused to cooperate, so that case was not prosecuted, according to the probation report.

“The defendant’s convictions as an adult are increasing in seriousness,” the probation officer noted in his report.

Robert Kearney

In his most recent case, Hemphill was convicted of killing Brandon Sanchez, 35, at a residence in the 600 block of McDonald Lane in Escondido. On that night, April 24, 2013, Hemphill was reportedly drunk and resisting his landlady’s efforts to have him removed from her property.

Escondido police reported that on the night of the shooting, Hemphill made “several spontaneous statements,” such as: “it was an accident” and “the safeties on those 1911s are tricky.” The weapon that Hemphill used, an Essex Arms 1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, was found resting on the hood of a vehicle at the scene.

On the day of his sentencing by judge Robert Kearney (who also heard the trial), Hemphill had 729 days of “custody credits.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Next Article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta
Michael James Hemphill, 60, is appealing his conviction.
Michael James Hemphill, 60, is appealing his conviction.

Michael James Hemphill was found guilty of first-degree murder at the end of a jury trial in February. Using a handgun, he killed a man in Escondido two years ago. Hemphill was sentenced to 75 years to life plus 5 years on April 23; he has since filed an appeal.

Hemphill, who was born in Glendale, Arizona, in 1955, had a criminal record before the murder case.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In 1980, when Hemphill was 25 years old, he fired a .22 caliber rifle loaded with birdshot at two persons, according to a probation report. That offense was in Costa Mesa, and Hemphill was sentenced to 120 days in jail plus 36 months’ probation. Hemphill was sent to jail for 60 more days for violating probation in that matter, according to records.

In 1985, Hemphill was accused of four new offenses: resisting an officer, trespass, occupying property without consent, and giving false ID to a peace officer; he got ten more days jail for that matter.

Twenty years later, in January of 2005, Hemphill was living in Escondido when police were called. A woman reported that Hemphill had been drinking and they began to argue about money and he punched her in the chest, she told the 911 dispatcher.

While the woman was on the phone, she said Hemphill held a knife against himself and told her that he would tell police that she stabbed him and then they would take her away. Then he took the phone away from her and broke it. Police confirmed that she had a fresh injury to her chest and arrested Hemphill — but then the woman refused to cooperate, so that case was not prosecuted, according to the probation report.

“The defendant’s convictions as an adult are increasing in seriousness,” the probation officer noted in his report.

Robert Kearney

In his most recent case, Hemphill was convicted of killing Brandon Sanchez, 35, at a residence in the 600 block of McDonald Lane in Escondido. On that night, April 24, 2013, Hemphill was reportedly drunk and resisting his landlady’s efforts to have him removed from her property.

Escondido police reported that on the night of the shooting, Hemphill made “several spontaneous statements,” such as: “it was an accident” and “the safeties on those 1911s are tricky.” The weapon that Hemphill used, an Essex Arms 1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, was found resting on the hood of a vehicle at the scene.

On the day of his sentencing by judge Robert Kearney (who also heard the trial), Hemphill had 729 days of “custody credits.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Memories of bonfires amid the pits off Palm

Before it was Ocean View Hills, it was party central
Next Article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader