Bird Rock Bandits Faced Suit

Posted on May 1, 2009

Bird Rock Bandits Faced Suit by Emery Kauanui’s Father

The father of a La Jolla surfer (right) who was fatally beaten during a fight filed a lawsuit yesterday against five young men involved and the bar where some in the group had been drinking.

In the suit, Emery Kauanui Sr. accuses the men of battery and wrongful death, stemming from the May 2007 death of his 24-year-old son, Emery Jr. The father also points a finger at the La Jolla Brew House, which he claims served alcohol to “obviously intoxicated” minors. Kauanui, who lives in Hawaii, is seeking unspecified damages.

Named in the lawsuit are Seth Cravens, 23; Eric House, 21; Orlando Osuna, 23; Matthew Yanke, 22; and Henri “Hank” Hendricks, 23.

San Diego Salutes Citizens of Courage

It takes a lot of courage for victims of crime to stand up and demand justice. Thursday some of them were honored with the 20th Annual Citizen’s of Courage Award, including one woman who stood up to the men who murdered her boyfriend.

Jennifer Grosso is a study in courage. When the Bird Rock Bandits attacked and ultimately killed her boyfriend, she attempted to break up the fight. When it came time for the trial, she became the sole witness against all the of the gang.

Despite pressure from her friends and others, she went ahead and testified. Her testimony was credited with winning the conviction of the lead defendant, Seth Cravens.

Jennifer told San Diego 6 News, “I wanted to look at him. I wanted him to feel what I was feeling.”

Jennifer was one of six locals honored by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis during a Thursday ceremony as part of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. Read more…

Bird Rock Bandits- Justice Served

Here is an old story I found on the Bird Rock Bandits… What a sad story. This proves the importance of critical thinking skills..

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Cravens found guilty of murder in surfer’s beating death

By Debbi Baker and Angelica Martinez

UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

2:25 p.m. November 18, 2008

SAN DIEGO – A San Diego Superior Court jury found a member of the so-called Bird Rock Bandits guilty of second-degree murder Tuesday in the fatal beating of a professional surfer in La Jolla in a high-profile case that had attracted national attention.

Seth Cravens, 22, was convicted in the 2007 death of Emery Kauanui, 24, who died from brain injuries several days after suffering what prosecutors described as a sucker punch to the face thrown by Cravens.

Cravens also was convicted on four counts of assault with a deadly weapon to produce great bodily harm, one count of misdemeanor battery and one count of making a criminal threat.

He was acquitted on two other assault counts and one misdemeanor battery count stemming from previous unrelated assaults that came to light after Kauanui’s death.

Cravens faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison. San Diego Superior Court Judge John S. Einhorn scheduled sentencing for Jan. 12.

Cravens sat back in his chair and alternately gazed up and then down as the verdicts were read to a packed courtroom that included Kauanui’s mother and Cravens’ father, but otherwise showed no emotion. Later, as the jury was leaving the courtroom, he shook his head slightly.

Outside the courtroom, the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Sophia Roach, said the conviction “sends a strong message to the community that brutality will not be tolerated.”

She said that young Kauanui’s life will never be replaced.

“The family will live with this sadness forever,” she said.

Cravens’ attorney, Mary Ellen Attridge, said in court that the defense would appeal the verdict Read more here…

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Bird Rock Bandits Faced Suit