Suspects Say Boy’s Family Harassed Them

The family of a 14-year-old Thousand Oaks boy who died in April after chaperons allegedly dared him to chug whiskey was accused Tuesday of harassing the three defendants charged in the alcohol poisoning case.

Defense lawyers said the family of Leland Scovis verbally abused David Campbell, Patrick Campbell and Priscilla Vernon during breaks in the preliminary hearing, which will determine whether they will stand trial in Leland’s death. The boy died after an April camping trip to Leo Carrillo State Beach.

But family members, who sometimes sat in court just a few feet from the defendants, said they were bothered by the defendants “always smiling and always laughing at us.”

Malibu Municipal Judge Lawrence J. Mira admonished both the family and defendants not to “ridicule, humiliate or in any way make the proceedings more difficult.”

“I know how difficult it is for anyone listening, especially when it has to do with a loved one,” Mira said. “There should be no contact while the proceedings are going on.”

About 10 friends and members of the Scovis family were in court to listen to testimony in the case against David Campbell, 29, and Patrick Campbell, 23, who are each charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, four counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Vernon, 21, of Newbury Park is charged with being an accessory to involuntary manslaughter and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Vernon is the sister of one of the five boys on the camping trip and is engaged to David Campbell.

Vernon’s lawyer, Martin Gladstein, said Leland’s mother, Jenny Scovis, was verbally harassing Vernon.

Scovis said she had lost her temper and swore at Vernon in the bathroom of the courthouse after Vernon smirked at her.

William J. Hardy, attorney for Patrick Campbell, also complained of treatment from the Scovis family. He said he was sitting next to his client when one of Leland’s sisters approached Patrick Campbell and “accused him of being a killer.”

Hardy said the Campbells’ father has been subjected to such treatment.

But Leland’s sister, Teena Scovis, 26, said the Campbells were constantly taunting them.

“They’re smiling, they’re smirking, they’re harassing us,” Teena Scovis said. “The whole case is about disregard for human life.”

Vernon, who had known Leland’s family for several years, had offered to take a group of boys camping with her fiance and his brother, said Art Scovis, Leland’s father.

During the April 14 camping trip, the Campbell brothers allegedly bet Leland that he could not drink the alcohol left in a gallon jug of whiskey without getting sick, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Leland drank the whiskey quickly and collapsed about 15 minutes later, said Sheriff’s Detective Jerome Beck. Two hours later, after Leland had developed breathing problems, one of the Campbell brothers began attempts at cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Beck said.

Leland was taken by helicopter to Westlake Medical Center in Westlake Village on the morning of April 14, Beck said. He died two days later.

Conservative estimates show that Leland had a blood-alcohol level of 0.46% when he was admitted to the hospital, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Gordon.

Three to four hours earlier, when Leland first drank the alcohol, his blood-alcohol level could have been as high as 0.52%, said Joseph Lawrence Cogan, forensic pathologist for the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.

“That’s an extremely high level,” Cogan said. “That’s in the lethal range.”

In later testimony, Cogan agreed that the blood-alcohol numbers could be slightly lower, since they had been figured with blood serum samples rather than whole blood. However, they were still above 0.35% in both cases, Gordon said.

California law presumes drivers to be drunk at the 0.08% level, and Cogan said a level above 0.24% could be lethal to a nondrinker.

Records indicated that Leland consumed a fifth to a gallon of whiskey.

According to Cogan, these events followed:

Leland soon passed out.

He lay on the beach for one to two hours before his breathing became labored and stopped. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was started five to 10 minutes later.

At some point, the boy vomited; at another point, in an effort to revive him, some people dragged him into the ocean.

Either because of lying outside for at least an hour or because of being soaked in the ocean, Leland developed hypothermia. His body temperature dropped to 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cogan said he did not believe Leland’s death might have been caused by a cerebral concussion suffered as a child, as suggested in cross-examination by Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Carol A. Clem.

Clem also alluded to a learning disability and an episode shortly before Leland’s death when he took an overdose of Tylenol.

Cogan said the boy had no record of a seizure disorder.

In other testimony, Cheryl Wilson, a ranger who patrols Leo Carrillo State Beach, testified that David Campbell told her he would take responsibility for the minors in the group who had not brought parental notes as required.

He also told Wilson that the group would not drink or possess alcohol.

“He told me, ‘There is not going to be any alcohol,’ ” Wilson said.

“I think it’s a real emotional case and people are acting emotionally,” Gordon said.

Three more witnesses are scheduled to testified today.