Nov 20, 2007 9:46 am US/Pacific
No Contest Plea In Death Of Journalist Halberstam
REDWOOD CITY (AP) ―
A graduate student charged in the car crash that killed journalist David Halberstam pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.
Kevin Jones, 27, did not appear in San Mateo County Court when his defense lawyer entered the plea for him as part of a deal with prosecutors. He had previously pleaded not guilty, and faced a maximum sentence of a year in county jail, a $1,000 fine or both.
Under the deal, Jones instead will receive a maximum sentence of 30 days in the sheriff's work program, Judge Mark Forcum said before convicting him. The judge said he would consider reducing that to "the five to 10 day range" and community service.
Jones' lawyer, Laurel Headley, declined to comment on the case outside court, but said Jones would likely appear in person for his sentencing, scheduled for Feb. 14.
Jones, a University of California Berkeley journalism student, was driving the Pulitzer Prize winner to an interview with football legend Y.A. Tittle on April 23 when the fatal crash happened in Menlo Park, south of San Francisco.
Based on witness accounts and an accident reconstruction, investigators determined that Jones made an illegal left turn into the path of a car that had a green light.
That car smashed into the passenger side of the vehicle where Halberstam was riding. Jones had a red light. Drugs or alcohol were ruled out as factors.
An autopsy showed Halberstam, who was wearing a seat belt, died almost instantly when a broken rib punctured his heart, authorities said.
Jones, who suffered a small puncture in one lung, volunteered to chauffeur Halberstam to the Tittle interview in response to an e-mail from the journalism school's alumni association saying the author was looking for a driver who would get $20 an hour and a one-on-one journalism lesson.
Halberstam, the author of 21 nonfiction books, was at work on a new one about the legendary 1958 NFL championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants.
The 73-year-old won the Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for his coverage of the Vietnam War, a subject he revisited in his 1972 best-selling book, "The Best and the Brightest." He went on to write 14 other best-sellers, including "The Breaks of the Game," "The Reckoning," and "The Powers That Be."
A lawyer for Halberstam's widow, Jean, has been doing research in preparation for a lawsuit that may name the university as a co-defendant.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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