El Cajon

A murder charge was dismissed Thursday against Joseph Gentile 5 1/2 years after the scalding death in a bathtub in 1981 of Gentile’s niece.

The dismissal by San Diego Superior Court Judge J. Richard Haden was part of a motion by Deputy Dist. Atty. Jay Coulter that ended in freedom for the El Cajon man instead of a third trial.

Gentile was convicted twice of second-degree murder and the 4th District Court of Appeal reversed the convictions twice. In its last opinion Jan. 28, the appellate court stated that “there is no substantial evidence” to support Gentile’s conviction.

“We strongly disagreed with the appellate court,” Coulter said afterward.

“We fired our best shot both times. We felt 24 jurors and two competent and experienced trial judges felt the evidence was sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt. The appellate court disagrees.

“We certainly wouldn’t have prosecuted him through two trials had we not believed he was responsible for the acts charged.”

Coulter said San Diego County Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller made the decision Thursday to drop the charge because of the latest reversal and because Gentile has already served 5 1/2 years in prison.

Coulter said that, had Gentile gone on trial a third time and been convicted of involuntary manslaughter, he would already have served more time than he could have received from such a verdict.

Gentile, now 24, was released from prison several weeks ago pending a ruling on the third trial, Coulter said.

The victim, 1-year-old Tiffany Wilson, died in 1981 after being scalded a month earlier in Gentile’s bathtub. Gentile said he found the girl partly submerged, notified his mother, and the infant was taken to a hospital.