Grand Jury Finds No Crime in Marine’s Death

The Orange County Grand Jury has agreed with the district attorney’s decision not to prosecute two Cal State Fullerton football players in the beating death of a Marine.

The family of Staff Sgt. Richard William Bottjer asked the grand jury to look into the case after the district attorney’s office announced last month that it would not file charges against quarterback Carlos Siragusa, 21, or wide receiver John Gibbs, 22, in the April 7 incident.

Bottjer, 30, a flight information specialist at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, died in a fistfight with Siragusa and Gibbs in a darkened parking lot across the street from Baxter’s, a Fullerton nightspot.

Bottjer and another Marine, Cpl. Thomas Duran, had scuffled with the athletes inside the bar during a “hot legs” contest and had taken the fight across the street after nightclub employees ejected them, police said.

District attorney’s investigators said it was clear from witnesses’ accounts that Bottjer died in a fair fight with the other men. They also pointed out that Bottjer and the other men had all been drinking heavily, with Bottjer’s blood-alcohol level registering more than 2 1/2 times the legal presumption of intoxication when he was admitted into the emergency room.

Heart Used in Transplant

After he was declared brain-dead and taken off life supports, Bottjer’s heart was used in Orange County’s first heart transplant operation. The recipient, Scott Headding, 26, of Huntington Beach, was later released from UCI Medical Center.

At the request of Gordon M. Pearson of Santa Ana, Bottjer’s father-in-law, the county grand jury reviewed evidence in the case to see if the district attorney acted correctly.

In a letter Wednesday to Pearson, the grand jury foreman and the chairman of its public safety committee said they concurred with the district attorney’s decision.

The letter also criticized the news media for their coverage of Bottjer’s death. Had the public known the true circumstances of the fight, the grand jury members said, there would not have been such a public furor for punishment of the football players.

James O. Lindberg, grand jury foreman, said Thursday that the football players repeatedly backed away from the fight and resorted to physical violence only when the Marines pursued them outside. It was clear from the evidence, Lindberg said, that Bottjer was the provoker.

Neither Fullerton police nor the district attorney’s office have said to the press that the football players retreated from the fight.

The grand jury letter noted that the state attorney general’s office was looking into the incident.

Harley Mayfield, an assistant state attorney general, said he is reviewing a boxful of documents recently shipped to him by the Orange County district attorney but has not yet decided whether to pursue an investigation.

Mayfield said his office is acting at the request of Pearson and Rep. George J. Hochbrueckner, who represents the Long Island, N.Y., district in which Bottjer’s parents live.

Neither the parents, Ralph and Jule Bottjer, nor Pearson could be reached for comment Thursday. The Marine’s grandmother, Abele Bottjer, said from the family’s Long Island home Thursday, “The case is not settled yet.”

Bottjer family members have been critical of the investigation into Bottjer’s death and have questioned why no arrests were made, especially following unsubstantiated reports that Bottjer was kicked and beaten on the ground by a crowd of eight other men.

District attorney’s investigators said, however, that there was no evidence that Bottjer was attacked by a crowd. They said it was clear that Bottjer threw the first punch.