Charge Filed Over Crash That Killed Writer

UC Berkeley graduate student Kevin Jones, 26, is facing a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge in connection with the April 23 car collision that killed Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist David Halberstam.

The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday its decision to charge Jones, the driver of the car carrying Halberstam, in the collision that killed the journalist.

If convicted, Jones could face up to one year in county jail and a $1,000 fine, said Stephen Wagstaffe, the chief deputy district attorney for the county.

Jones will be charged with vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, Wagstaffe said. If the charges had included gross negligence, Jones would be facing up to six years in prison, he said.

“For gross negligence it would have required that the fatal driving was done with a conscious disregard for life,” Wagstaffe said. “This was just simply he went through a red light and he believed that he could get through that intersection.”

Jones was driving the car carrying Halberstam in the collision at the intersection of Bayfront Expressway and Willow Road in Menlo Park. He was making a left turn when the collision happened, Wagstaffe said.

Halberstam had no pulse when he was pulled from the passenger side of the car by emergency crews. Jones suffered a punctured lung as a result of the accident.

Jones had volunteered to drive Halberstam to an interview in Mountain View for a book the journalist was working on. Halberstam had spoken at the Graduate School of Journalism’s Alumni Day lecture the Saturday before the collision.

Campus officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

Menlo Park police turned over the investigation of the collision to the district attorney’s office approximately five weeks ago without a recommendation on whether to file charges. Wagstaffe said the investigation has since been under review in the office.

Wagstaffe said prosecutors reviewed a number of additional reports, including a toxicology report and Jones’ prior driving record. There was no evidence that Jones was intoxicated at the time of the accident, he said.

While Wagstaffe said he could not discuss the details of Jones’ record, he said it played a role in the decision to recommend the charges.

Laurel Headley, Jones’ attorney, declined to comment on the decision to file the charge, saying she had not yet seen the evidence.

“(Jones) feels just absolutely awful, as you can imagine,” Headley said.

Jones is set to be arraigned July 11, Wagstaffe said.

Halberstam was well known for his coverage of the early Vietnam War and for his many books on topics ranging from politics to sports.

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