Steven Wayne Bonilla, imprisoned on California’s death row for the past 29 years, has become one of the most active litigators in the United States.
Even at the age of 77, Bonilla shows no signs of slowing down his tireless legal activities, filing lawsuit after lawsuit.
His primary goal remains to overturn his conviction for orchestrating the 1987 murder of Jerry Lee Harris, his former business partner at a Cupertino, California, nightclub.
Bonilla has filed numerous lawsuits, petitions and other legal actions against district attorneys, judges, clerks, the state of California and all of its counties.
However, despite his efforts, all of his cases ended in rejection, leading to further litigation.
Steven Wayne Bonilla, 77, has been imprisoned on California’s death row for 29 years and 4 months since his sentencing in 1995 for a 1987 murder.
A search of a federal legal database reveals more than 2,500 cases in which Bonilla is the plaintiff, while searches of county superior courts reveal hundreds more.
With time on his hands, from his cell at the California Medical Center in Vacaville, Bonilla is known to have filed petitions with 74 different courts in a single day.
“I don’t have an exact count of how many lawsuits I’ve filed,” he said during an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.
Despite not knowing the exact number, he continues to present.
“I’ve been filing consistently, two or more petitions a week,” he said. ‘I hate all the denials I get. They are very depressing. But when I make a motion citing the law, I know I’m right.
“I tell them repeatedly that even if I were a nuisance litigant, I still have the right to have my petition filed.”
With time on his hands, from his cell at the California Medical Center in Vacaville, Bonilla is known to have filed petitions with 74 different courts in a single day.
Bonilla’s files are so prolific that judicial officials have difficulty keeping track of them.
Now, federal judges will sometimes simply dismiss their cases en masse, eliminating dozens at a time.
Bonilla’s persistent legal actions highlight a long-standing problem for the courts: the management of “vexatious” or “serial” litigants who file numerous lawsuits, which are often considered an abuse of the legal system.
While courts can impose restrictions on such litigants to prevent frivolous cases, they must also ensure that legitimate claims are not overlooked.
Bonilla is not alone, however, Jonathan Lee Riches is the name of another infamous serial litigator who is believed to have filed more than 4,000 lawsuits.
Their demands targeted everything from individuals and entities, from celebrities to historical figures.
Bonilla’s litigation, on the other hand, focuses solely on overturning his conviction.
Prosecutors alleged how in 1987, Bonilla, seeking to recover more than a million dollars from his business partner, hired two men to kill Jerry Lee Harris.
Bonilla’ was sentenced to death after a financial dispute with Harris.
Prosecutors alleged that Bonilla, seeking to recover more than $1 million, hired two men to kill Harris.
According to testimony, Harris was lured to a meeting, attacked and suffocated with duct tape before being buried in the Nevada desert.
After one jury deadlocked on sentencing, a second jury sentenced Bonilla to death.
Throughout his legal battles, Bonilla has denied responsibility for Harris’ death.
His former attorney, David Nickerson, described Bonilla as intense and educated, with a credible claim for a new trial.
Nickerson noted that Bonilla’s numerous lawsuits, including those against his own attorney, are part of his persistent effort to seek justice.
A prison guard escorts a prisoner down a hallway at the California Medical Center in Vacaville, California (file photo)
In 2013, the Marin County Superior Court placed Bonilla on a list of ‘nuisance litigants,’ requiring him to obtain court approval for any new lawsuit.
Despite this, he continues to file motions and claims, particularly in Alameda County, related to his criminal case.
The Judicial Council of California tracks vexatious litigants, identifying those who repeatedly file meritless lawsuits.
Court officials in Alameda County and elsewhere have implemented systems to flag and manage these cases, although they still carefully review each filing.
Bonilla’s legal battles are supported by the prison system, which provides him with the resources necessary to file his numerous lawsuits.
He estimates that the cost of his litigation efforts, if not covered by the prison, would be substantial.
A look inside the walls of the California Medical Center in Vacaville, California, a state prison where many of the state’s sickest inmates are sent for medical treatment.
Courts tend to be particularly harsh on people who continue to file one habeas corpus petition after another alleging wrongful detention, and they certainly don’t like to keep getting the same document filed over and over again.
“From the defendant’s side, especially in these habeas petitions, the evidence can seem very compelling,” said Jonathan Abel, an associate professor of law at the University of California, San Francisco.
“But from the court’s perspective, it’s: ‘You had your chance, we don’t really believe you, enough is enough.'”
In response to a journalist’s question, Bonilla provided detailed letters and copies of legal documents, insisting on his right to challenge what he considers unfair prosecution.
Bonilla said SFChronicle.com who believes that all of his requests are based on valid legal grounds, despite having been repeatedly denied.
Bonilla’s relentless litigation efforts have served to highlight the complexities that courts face in balancing preventing abuse of the legal system while also examining potentially valid claims.