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Driver in Halberstam death pleads not guilty to misdemeanor charge
by Rachel Marder
Senior Editor
News | 7/12/07
Posted online at 3:33 AM EST on 7/12/07
/ Last updated at 3:18 AM EST on 7/12/07
The driver of the car in which David Halberstam died pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, the Palo Alto Daily News reported July 11.
Halberstam, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and five-time bestselling writer originally selected by the University to deliver the May 2007 commencement address, was killed in a three-car accident in Menlo Park, Cali., April 23.
Kevin Jones, 26, a first-year graduate student in journalism at UC Berkeley, was spoken for in San Mateo Superior Court by his lawyer Laurel Headley.
Jones could be jailed for up to one year and charged $1,000 if he's found guilty.
The judge set his trial date for Nov. 13 at 8:30 a.m.
Jones was making a left-hand turn on a red light and hit another car with a green light, local authorities said. The two cars slammed into a third due to the impact of the crash.
Halberstam died of massive internal injuries.
Jones and the two other drivers were in stable condition, none were speeding or under the influence of any substances, local authorities have reported.
Halberstam had just given a lecture titled "Turning Journalism into History" at UC Berkeley, and was on his was to an interview for his new book, The Game, about the 1958 Super Bowl between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants, as his widow Jean Halberstam told the Associated Press; Jones had volunteered to drive him.
Mrs. Halberstam has called on universities not to permit students to chauffer guest lecturers.
"Mr. Jones has been distraught since the moment of the accident, and he continues to be distraught," Headley told The San Jose Mercury News last month. "He lost his mentor in that accident, and obviously the notice of charges is not welcome. It just adds to the tragedy of the whole situation."
Halberstam, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and five-time bestselling writer originally selected by the University to deliver the May 2007 commencement address, was killed in a three-car accident in Menlo Park, Cali., April 23.
Kevin Jones, 26, a first-year graduate student in journalism at UC Berkeley, was spoken for in San Mateo Superior Court by his lawyer Laurel Headley.
Jones could be jailed for up to one year and charged $1,000 if he's found guilty.
The judge set his trial date for Nov. 13 at 8:30 a.m.
Jones was making a left-hand turn on a red light and hit another car with a green light, local authorities said. The two cars slammed into a third due to the impact of the crash.
Halberstam died of massive internal injuries.
Jones and the two other drivers were in stable condition, none were speeding or under the influence of any substances, local authorities have reported.
Halberstam had just given a lecture titled "Turning Journalism into History" at UC Berkeley, and was on his was to an interview for his new book, The Game, about the 1958 Super Bowl between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants, as his widow Jean Halberstam told the Associated Press; Jones had volunteered to drive him.
Mrs. Halberstam has called on universities not to permit students to chauffer guest lecturers.
"Mr. Jones has been distraught since the moment of the accident, and he continues to be distraught," Headley told The San Jose Mercury News last month. "He lost his mentor in that accident, and obviously the notice of charges is not welcome. It just adds to the tragedy of the whole situation."
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