at his first parole hearing in 2019, the then-50-year-old gayle admitted for the first time he “panicked” by opening fire. two years later, he flipped back to his original contention that it was self-defence.
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“ they attacked me, ” he told the panel in 2021. “ i agree with everything except the part that i initiated the confrontation and i started shooting first. ”
with a two-year-old unexecuted deportation order over his head, gayle couldn’t risk being arrested. he took off, with the officers in pursuit. he punched baylis in the chest and pulled out his stolen 9 mm semi-automatic and shot leone in his shoulder and back. “ a matter of millimeters separated const. leone from paralysis, if not death, ” said the trial judge, then-superior court justice david watt.
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