The 26-year-old UC Berkeley graduate student who was driving the car involved in a crash that killed award-winning journalist David Halberstam last April faces misdemeanor criminal charges in the accident, the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office announced today.
San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Kevin Jones will be charged with vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. He faces up to a year in the county jail and a fine of up to $1,000 if convicted. ...
Jones had volunteered to chauffeur Halberstam, the 73-year-old New York Times reporter and nationally-acclaimed author, from Berkeley to Palo Alto to interview Pro Football Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle for a new book. ...
The distinguished author was in the Bay Area for a speaking engagement at UC Berkeley and to interview Tittle for a new book, "The Game," about the 1958 NFL championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants.
Jones had told the Mercury right after the accident, "It's like the ultimate failure, I had one easy thing to do - drive this man to an interview - and I couldn't even do that.
My torts students get very anxious when I discuss bartender/host liability when inebriated drivers get into accidents--many of them earn (or earned) school money mixing or serving drinks (this is Wisconsin), and tend to identify more with defendants than with victims on this issue.
In my grad school years, I volunteered to drive visiting speakers around campus, and sometimes to/from airports. Had lots of interesting conversations, and valued the experience. This made me shudder.
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