The California Supreme Court overturned the death penalty conviction of one of L.A.’s most notorious gang figures Thursday, saying a juror who likely would have spared Timothy McGhee from execution was wrongly dismissed.

“Because of the erroneous discharge of a juror during guilt phase deliberations, we must reverse McGhee’s conviction and sentence,” Justice Goodwin H. Liu wrote for the court.

McGhee, 51, was one of the country’s most wanted fugitives when he was nabbed in Bullhead City after a nationwide manhunt in 2003. The head of the Toonerville gang in Atwater Village, he was suspected in nine killings, charged with six, and convicted of three.