A parolee who punched a gay teenager on the San Diego Trolley and then stabbed a man who came to the victim’s rescue was sentenced to nine years and eight months in state prison on Friday, Aug. 7.

Ironically, the sentence for Exodus Bolton, 38, is a bit longer than what he received in 2007 for all but one of the same crimes. Bolton acted as his own attorney in 2007, and the 4th District Court of Appeals in 2008 reversed his convictions and nine-year sentence.

In his June retrial, Bolton was convicted of making a criminal threat to another victim on the trolley – a crime his first jury had deadlocked on – and this time around got an extra eight months from San Diego Superior Court Judge John Thompson. Bolton was also fined $5,000.

Bolton was much more subdued at his sentencing last week than he had been at the one in 2007, when he had remarked, “I’m not no fag; I’ll never be one,” and suggested he might kill to survive in prison. This time, Bolton said nothing when Judge Thompson sentenced him, and he did not testify at his second trial.

Bolton was convicted of mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon, and two battery counts in two incidents three days apart in October 2006, while riding on the trolley. He was initially charged with committing a hate crime against the 17-year-old boy he punched, but a judge dropped the hate crime charge because the words involving gays and lesbians were used so frequently, made no sense and did not refer to specific incidents.

Riders testified that Bolton became easily agitated and was prone to profanity. “He’s a bully. He’s looking for a fight,” said Deputy District Attorney Oscar Garcia, who added that Bolton liked to utter “vulgar anti-gay slurs” to people in general.

Garcia said Bolton will have to serve 85 percent of his nine-year, eight-month sentence before he can be paroled.

His 2007 convictions were overturned due to a judicial error in which the appeals court said Bolton felt forced to act as his own attorney by the presiding judge, but not the trial judge. A transcript of an exchange between Bolton and the presiding judge was cited, in which the judge told him he had to make a decision about representing himself but that time was running out because Bolton did not want to waive a speedy trial.

The 4th District Court of Appeals voted 3-0 to reverse his 2007 convictions. It found that Bolton’s right to effective counsel was prejudiced from the point he felt he had to be his own attorney.

On Oct. 27, 2006, Rey Harris, 17, was among passengers on the trolley that was going through Encanto when he heard Bolton angrily rant about a man Bolton mistakenly thought was gay and who had bumped into his girlfriend. Bolton declared “faggots abuse women.”

Harris told Bolton he was gay and that “fags don’t hit women – assholes do.” Bolton immediately punched Harris and spit on his face, shirt, and shoes. Bolton called Harris “punk rocker” and “a bitch” who is “an abomination.” Harris fell on the floor.

A passenger, Victor Mendoza, 50, came to the teenager’s defense, but Bolton pulled out a knife and stabbed Mendoza three times. Mendoza was stabbed in the chest, and was cut twice on his arm, causing a nerve to be severed. The arm wound is the reason for the mayhem charge because it was a permanent injury, said Garcia.

Bolton and his girlfriend got off at the next trolley stop, but he had blood on his face, hands, and jeans. San Diego Police officers quickly found him, but he fought them and spat in one officer’s face. Police found Bolton’s bloody knife in his pocket.

Three days earlier, Bolton had erupted at an 18-year-old man sitting next to his girlfriend, and punched him. A jury in 2009 convicted him of making a criminal threat to the man’s girlfriend, who testified she and her boyfriend got off the trolley because she was terrified as to what Bolton would do.

Garcia noted that Bolton likes to talk about protecting women, but he was earlier convicted of punching a pregnant girlfriend in 1999.

He had been sentenced to prison before and had two drug possession convictions, according to court records. He served his most recent sentence at Ironwood State Prison before being returned to San Diego for retrial.

Bolton has been in custody since October 2006, and Thompson gave him credit for serving 1,026 days, which will be taken from his sentence.

The prosecutor said there was a 10-year-old boy on the trolley who was riding by himself and witnessed the entire incident. The boy’s mother recently told Garcia her son was traumatized by the sight and he had to change schools because he could no longer ride the trolley to get to school.