DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO –
A judge reduced bail yesterday for one of five men charged in the May 24 beating death of a La Jolla surfer.
Superior Court Judge John Einhorn dropped the bail of Seth Cravens, 21, from $2 million to $1.5 million. The judge declined requests from prosecutors to increase the bail of three other men charged in the death of Emery Kauanui Jr. who are free after posting bail.
A fifth man, Henri Quinn-William Hendricks, 21, was charged this week and remains in jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.
All five have pleaded not guilty to a variety of charges including murder, assault and battery. Police and prosecutors allege that the men belong to a loose-knit gang known as the Bird Rock Bandits, which harassed and intimidated people in the beach area.
Deputy District Attorney Sophia Roach had urged the judge to set higher bail amounts for three men: Orlando Osuna, 22; Eric House, 20; and Matthew Yanke, 21.
She argued that more information about prior incidents of harassing and fighting has come to light since bail was set, and said some of the defendants have been seen at parties and possibly drinking while on bail. She said at least two witnesses have left the state fearing for their safety, apparently in response to the three being free on bail.
Defense lawyers denied the drinking allegations. Moreover, House's defense attorney Earl Pott argued that there are no substantive changes in the prosecution's arguments about the case since bail was set, so increasing it now was not warranted.
Einhorn agreed and did not change the bail.
Alan Spears, the attorney for Cravens, had submitted a packet of information to the judge urging a reduced bail for his client. Included were bail schedules for surrounding counties, which Spears said showed that bail of $1 million is the norm for homicide cases like this one.
He said Cravens was saddled with an “abnormally high” bail in a case that Spears said was either self-defense or, at the most, involuntary manslaughter – a far less serious charge than murder.
Roach countered that Cravens threw the fatal punch and was a danger to the community. Without explanation, Einhorn granted the motion to reduce the bail for Cravens, but only to $1.5 million.
It was unclear if that would be enough for Cravens to get out of jail before the trial.
Greg Moran: (619) 542-4586; greg.moran@uniontrib.com
