Fourth person convicted of 1991 murder denied re-sentencing

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) A fourth person, Eugene Ballance, was denied re-sentencing for his part in a 1991 murder.

Ballance was charged with murder and three special circumstances among other charges, so he was eligible for the death penalty. He waived his right to a jury trial, and in exchange, all counts except the murder were dismissed and the special circumstance allegations were striked.

He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, but in 2018, a law was passed in California changing the definition of murder. Under the new law, a person cannot be guilty of felony murder unless they are the actual killer or a major participant in the underlying felony and acted with reckless indifference to human life.

By denying re-sentencing, a Monterey County judge ruled that Ballance was a major participant in the robbery and acted with reckless indifference to human life. He was previously granted parole and will remain on lifetime parole.

In June of 1991, John Lewis Drayton, Eugene Ballance, Annette Durr, Lester Polk and Patrick Richardson planned a home robbery. The four men went into the home at 2 a.m., and Drayton, Polk and Richardson were armed.

Polk and Richardson went into the master bedroom and found the husband and wife homeowners, and Polk announced that this was a robbery. Richardson put their guns to the couple's heads and demanded that they say where their safe was. Ballance's job was to find the safe.

When the couple told them repeatedly that there was no safe, Drayton and Richardson found their 17-year-old daughter in her bedroom and led her by gunpoint to the master bedroom. When the robbers demanded to know the location of the safe again, Drayton pinned the wife on the floor with his foot. He put his gun to her back and told her not to move.

Ballance and Richardson searched a closet for the safe, but only found an envelope with a large amount of cash inside. They accused the father of lying to them.

They told the robbers again there was no safe, and at that point Polk told the 17-year-old to undress, and he sexually assaulted her with his shotgun. He said he would make the parents watch as he raped her, and as Polk went toward her, her father struggled with Richardson.

Polk went to help Richardson with the man struggling, and Polk's shotgun fired. After that, Richardson shot the father in the back, severing his spine.

The robbers left the house, but before leaving, Drayton ordered the wife and daughter not to move for the next 15 minutes. They spent a total of 48 minutes in the home, and within minutes of being shot, the father bled to death.

Drayton, Polk and Richardson also filed petitions for re-sentencing, but all were denied.