Lawyers Battle Bird Rock Bandits 'Gang' Allegation

POSTED: 3:18 pm PDT May 8, 2008

UPDATED: 6:37 pm PDT May 8, 2008

SAN DIEGO -- The five men accused in the death of a professional surfer last year in La Jolla were in court Thursday for the second day of their preliminary hearing.

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Images: Bird Rock Bandits
Image: Vigil Held For Murdered Surfer
Images: Surfer Dies After Group Beating In La Jolla
Images: Photos of Emery Kauanui
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Seth Cravens, 22, Eric House, 20, Orlando Osuna, 22, Matthew Yanke, 21, and Henri Quinn-William Hendricks, 22, are charged with murder, assault and gang allegations in the attack that killed Emery Kauanui, 24, last May.

Prosecutors have alleged that Cravens delivered the fatal blow to the 24-year-old victim on May 24, 2006. Authorities said Kauanui fell back and hit his head. He died a few days later at a hospital.

The five men accused in the death of a professional surfer last year in La Jolla were in court Thursday for the second day of their preliminary hearing.

In court Thursday, several detectives with the San Diego Police Department and the district attorney's office were called to the stand to testify about fights allegedly involving suspects Cravens and Sandoval, who is also known as Orlando Osuna.

"He said that Orlando hit him in the side of the face, and he went to the ground, where both Seth and Orlando punched him while he was on the ground," Detective Mike Holden told the judge.

Deputy District Attorney Sophia Roach's line of questioning involve the alleged violent past of the suspects.

In cross-examination, defense attorney Mary Ellen Attridge attempted to get witnesses to address whether all parties involved in the fights shared blame and tried to point out that in some cases, the other parties involved chose not to prosecute.

Investigators said the attack on Kauanui followed a drink-spilling encounter at the La Jolla Brew House, between House and the victim. Prosecutors believe he was encouraged to fight Kauanui after the five men allegedly followed the victim to the home he shared with his mother.

Prosecutors asked witnesses in detail about the incidents, which, in some case, witnesses said, were started because non-local were coming to "their" beach.

The prosecutors are attempting to prove that the men on trial were part of a gang. Defense attorney are fighting the allegation and continue to ask questions of law-enforcement officials and of the suspects' friends about whether the gang exists at all.

"He had known them for a long time, right?" Attridge asked a witness.

"Yes," was the response.

"He had never heard of the Bird Rock Bandits before the death of Emery Kauanui, correct?" Attridge queried.

"Yes," she was told.

"He heard that expression from the news and the news only?" Attridge asked.

"That's what he told me," was the response.

The preliminary hearing is expected to continue until at least the middle of next week.

Search warrants filed in the case against the men allege they were part of a gang known as the Bird Rock Bandits. The documents claim that the accused killers allegedly wanted to be members of the Hell's Angels outlaw motorcycle gang and that they were also allegedly anti-Semitic.

Attorneys for two of the men, House and Yanke, have said they intend to present evidence on behalf of their clients, challenging the allegation that the defendants were part of the Bird Rock Bandits.

Yanke's attorney, Kerry Steigerwalt, said he had consulted a preeminent gang expert who concluded there is no basis for calling the group a "gang."

"I want to attack it at the preliminary hearing," the attorney said in February. "I want to eliminate it."

House's attorney, Earll Pott, also argued against the gang allegation. He pointed out that Hendricks was not originally identified as a suspect, and told the judge that the day after Kauanui died, Hendricks came forward and told police he was at the fight scene, according to an affidavit.

Until being charged in Kauanui's death, Hendricks was a backup quarterback for the University of New Hampshire.

According to the affidavits in support of police search warrants, Cravens' best friend is a documented member of the Hell's Angels and is the treasurer of the San Diego chapter. In the papers, he is described as Cravens' "mentor in violence."

Cravens let the police search his home, where police said they found evidence to support gang affiliation, including Nazi symbols and images and words denigrating persons of Jewish and African origin, as well as numerous scenes of violence and gore.

The affidavit in support of the search warrants also outlines numerous other offenses authorities said involved the suspects.

The defendants each face up to 15 years to life in prison if convicted.

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