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Murder trial opens for former Marine accused of killing two UCSD students The attorney for a drunk driver accused of killing two UC San Diego medical students in 2015 conceded to a jury Tuesday his client was guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. But attorney Rich Hutton, who represents Jason Riley King, said he is not guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of Anne Baldock, 24 and Madison Cornwell, 23. “We agree the driver Jason King was the sole cause of the crash,” said Hutton to jurors. Hutton also said King was also guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol causing serious injury to three people who survived the crash in the car Cornwell was driving on May 15, 2015, on state Route 163 north of Interstate 8. The sole issue for the jury to decide is whether King caused two murders, said Hutton. “It is a manslaughter (case),” he concluded. Hutton told the nine man, three woman jury and San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber that making that opening statement conceding guilt on some charges was the most unusual way he has ever opened a case. Baldock is from La Jolla and
(619) 981-0002 Barbara Leinenweber “La Jolla Resident Since 1982”
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2018
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BY NEAL PUTNAM | LA JOLLA VILLAGE NEWS
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Cornwell is from Mission Viejo. Three UC San Diego medical students who survived the crash also testified Tuesday. Yuki Iizuka, from La Jolla, was comatose for a month at UC San Diego Medical Center. Along with Iizuka, Stosh Ozog and Jared Molitoris described their injuries. All of them have resumed their studies after some absences. Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright told the jury King struck the Toyota Prius with the UC San Diego students head-on at 1:40 a.m. She said the female students were “killed instantly.” “He knew the dangers of drinking and driving. He does it anyway,” said Bright. She said King, now 24 and a former U.S. Marine, was partying with other Marines at a Mission Beach hotel. Bright said his friends tried to tell him he should not be driving, but “he left anyway.” Bright said King drove to a bar known as In Cahoots in Mission Valley in his Ford F-350 truck that he had owned for just a week. King was with a female friend. “While he was playing pool, he continued to drink. She knew what
SEE KING >> PG. 2
PLUNGING LIKE POSDEIDON
Ram Udwin wore a festive Poseidon outfit for the Jan. 1 Polar Plunge at La Jolla Shores. DON BALCH/CONTRIBUTOR
Local company sued for alleged fraud BY BLAKE BUNCH | LA JOLLA VILLAGE NEWS
In Spanish, “pura vida” means “pure life.” In Costa Rican (Tico) Spanish, the word takes on a myriad of fluid definitions. The saying idealizes a simplistic, whole existence, and a humility before nature, as well as countless other ethereal tenets.
When one company in La Jolla, Pura Vida Bracelets, began to sell simple rope-and-charm bracelets from their headquarters on Prospect Street that donned the name, many in the surf-steeped community understood the connotation. The name inherently implies that they could be involved (in some fashion) with promoting the laid-
back Central American way of life. Pura Vida was founded after two friends, Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman, returned from a college graduation trip to Costa Rica with 400 bracelets purchased from two local artisans that were, ‘living in pover-
SEE VIDA >> PG. 5