Manslaughter plea denied in deputy’s case

By Neal Putnam
The Alpine Sun

     EL CAJON — A judge, on Friday, July 13, rejected a plea bargain for a sheriff’s deputy from Alpine who planned to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his wife and have a murder charge dismissed against him.
     El Cajon Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos told attorneys he did not feel the proposed plea bargain was in “the best interest of justice.” Lowell “Sam” Bruce, 40, would have been sentenced to 15 years in state prison instead of a life sentence if he is convicted of first-degree murder.
     Bruce is set to stand trial Oct. 9 in the Dec. 14, 2006, slaying of Kristin Maxwell-Bruce, 38, who was his wife of 11 years.
     The couple lived in Alpine with her parents and the couple’s two children at the time. Bruce worked in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility and not with other deputies at the Alpine sheriff’s station.
     Attorneys on both sides seemed surprised that Exarhos would reject the deal, which is unusual for a judge to do so. Exarhos said he would have to be convinced that a manslaughter conviction would be the likely result of a jury trial, and was concerned about questions over whether Bruce was getting special treatment because of his law enforcement career.
     Deputy District Attorney William Gentry said Bruce’s occupation as a deputy played no role in the proposed plea bargain. He said there was enough evidence to sustain a murder conviction.
     A verdict of voluntary manslaughter would suggest that the shooting happened in “a heat of passion,” or sudden argument. A first or second-degree murder conviction would require a showing of premeditation and/or malice.
     Maxwell-Bruce was shot in the jaw and died from severe blood loss and trauma before she could get to a hospital.
     After the brief hearing, the judge, and attorneys declined to comment on what happened. District Attorney spokesman Paul Levikow said afterwards the plea was proposed because there was some “evidentiary concerns,” but he declined further comment.
     One big problem for the trial concerns the 4-year-old son of both parents who witnessed the shooting in the couple’s bedroom.
     “My daddy shooted my mommy with a black gun,” the boy told an investigator afterwards. The boy’s words were heard in the May 14 preliminary hearing from a witness who heard him say it to a child psychologist.
     However, at trial, the boy may be called as a witness, since he is the only one who saw it besides his father. Neither side would want to appear they are forcing a 4-year-old boy to a witness stand. But what he said supports both things favorable to the prosecution and defense.
     The boy also said the shooting happened after his parents “were being rude to each other” and were fighting. He said that being rude is the same as fighting.
     The boy quoted his mother as saying, “go ahead and shoot,” after she saw Bruce pick up his duty weapon. If she said it, Maxwell-Bruce probably said the remark in jest, not realizing her husband would actually shoot her.
     That type of remark has actually been heard many times in other shooting cases.
     But the quote might help the defense to show the shooting was spontaneous, the result of a sudden quarrel, and not premeditated. The defense lawyers could argue the offense was manslaughter, not murder.
     Bruce is being housed at the Vista Detention Facility on $2.5 million bail.

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