Seth Cravens, the 22-year old who landed the deadly punch on Emery Kanuanui, a professional surfer from La Jolla, was convicted yesterday of second degree murder and faces up to 15 years in prison. Sentencing was set for Jan. 12, but Craven’s defense lawyer is likely to appeal.

The altercation that eventually led to Kanuanui’s death began May 24, 2007 at the La Jolla Brew House, where Kanuanui had been drinking. According to some reports, Kauanui got in an argument with Eric House, a member of a local gang called the ‘Bird Rock Bandits’, over House’s flirtation with Kauanui’s girlfriend and Kauanui spilling a drink on House’s shirt. The argument escalated to a point where the bar’s security guard asked Kauanui to leave. Kanuanui left and had his girlfriend drive him home.

Later in the night, House and four other members of the Bird Rock Bandits -- Seth Cravens, Matthew Yanke, Orlando Osuna and Henri “Hank” Hendricks -- drove to Kauanui’s home and called Kauanui to come out to continue the fight. As fellow La Jolla High graduates, Kauanui and the Bandits knew each other and likely saw the ordeal as another typical High School quarrel. But that wasn’t the case.

Instead of a fight strictly between Kauanui and House, the two parties originally in the conflict, the second round evolved into a group beating, where the Bandits overtook Kauanui and Cravens, the ringleader, eventually landed a fatal punch on Kauanui’s face. According to a New York Times article, Hendricks later told the police that Kauanui ‘s head “buckled up and down like a bobble head doll” during the fight and that when he fell back onto the sidewalk, his head landed on the concrete with what Cravens described as “a loud thud”. Four days after the beating, Kauanui died of head injuries at Scripps Memorial Hospital.

With Kauanui’s death, a number of people came forward to file police reports of previous assaults by the Bandits, some of which involved one or more of the members who were also present at Kauanui’s beating. As a result, in addition to murder, gang allegations were also considered.

"Yanke, House and Osuna pleaded guilty in June to involuntary manslaughter. House and Yanke were ordered to serve 210 days each in county jail. Osuna received the longest jail term at 349 days. Hendricks, 22, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. The prosecution had sought prison terms for everyone but Hendricks. Cravens also faces charges of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and misdemeanor battery in connection with previous incidents," according to a San Diego Union-Tribune report.

Links

• San Diego Magazine's 'Murder in Paradise?'
• San Diego Union-Tribune's 'Man found guilty'
• New York Times' 'Pro Surfer's Death'
• Bill Andrews' Emery Tribute