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Coroner: alcohol a factor in drowning death

by Andrea Gemmet

Autopsy results show that Rajeev Motwani, 47, an Atherton resident and Stanford University computer science professor, was intoxicated at the time of his death. Mr. Motwani was found dead in his backyard swimming pool on June 5.

The official cause of Mr. Motwani's death is accidental drowning, according to the San Mateo County Coroner's Office. Toxicology results from the autopsy found that Mr. Motwani had a blood-alcohol level of .26, more than three times the legal limit of .08 for drunken driving, said a coroner's office spokesman on July 15.

Mr. Motwani was credited by Google co-founder Sergey Brin as his unofficial academic adviser. He called Mr. Motwani's contributions to computer science "brilliant."

Though Mr. Brin was one of hundreds of computer science graduate students, he wrote in his blog that Mr. Motwani found time to support him and Google co-founder Larry Page as they took on the technical and organizational challenges that would lead to Google.

"Of all the faculty at Stanford, it is with Rajeev that I have stayed the closest and I will miss him dearly," Mr. Brin said. "Yet his legacy and personality lives on in the students, projects, and companies he has touched. Today, whenever you use a piece of technology, there is a good chance a little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind it."