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A University of California at Berkeley student who was charged in connection with a Menlo Park car crash that claimed the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam faces 30 days in the sheriff’s work program after pleading no contest today in San Mateo County Superior Court.
Kevin Lloyd Jones, 27, did not appear in court when his lawyer, Laurel Headley, entered his plea to one misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter. Jones could be sentenced to a maximum of one year, but Judge Mark Forcum has said he will not sentence him to more than 30 days in the sheriff’s work program, according to Deputy District Attorney Shin-Mee Chang.
Chang also said that Judge Forcum will “strongly consider five to 10 days in the sheriff’s work program; Jones could then do the rest of his time through community service.”
Halberstam, 73, of New York City, was killed in a three-car collision near the Dumbarton Bridge on April 23. The crash occurred shortly after 10:30 a.m. on the westbound Bayfront Expressway at Willow Road, according to Menlo Park police.
Halberstam was in the passenger seat of a Toyota Camry being driven by Jones, a student at the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, on their way to a book interview. Halberstam was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to Chang, the status of Halberstam was not taken into account during the prosecution’s decision to file criminal charges against Jones.
“We would have treated it the same whether the victim was a homeless person or a person of Halberstam’s status,” Chang said.
Jones is scheduled to appear at his sentencing, scheduled for Feb. 14 at 9 a.m.
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