Trial Ordered in Boy’s Death From Alcohol

Two brothers from Thousand Oaks were ordered Friday to stand trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the April death of a 14-year-old boy who died after they allegedly gave him part of a bottle of whiskey and bet him he could not chug it all without getting sick.

Malibu Municipal Judge Lawrence J. Mira said the circumstances surrounding the death of Leland (Lee) Scovis--the youngest of five teen-age boys chaperoned by the defendants on a camping trip to Leo Carrillo State Beach--were tragic and egregious.

“It seems to me a loaded gun is not unlike 80-proof liquor,” Mira said. “The coroner indicated that the blood alcohol level was more than twice what he thought lethal.”

David Campbell, 29, and Patrick Campbell, 23, will each stand trial on one count of involuntary manslaughter, four counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The two are free on $5,000 bail each.

Another chaperon, Priscilla Vernon, 21, of Newbury Park was ordered to stand trial on charges of being an accessory to involuntary manslaughter and five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Vernon, who is free on her own recognizance, is the sister of one of the boys and is engaged to David Campbell.

Leland was invited on the April 14 camping trip by Vernon’s brother, a friend of his, according to testimony during the hearing.

At the beginning of the trip, David Campbell told a park ranger that he would take responsibility for the boys and then gave them alcohol, witnesses said. Patrick Campbell allegedly bet Leland that he could not drink the two to three inches of alcohol left in a half-gallon jug of whiskey without getting sick, according to testimony.

Leland drank the whiskey and collapsed shortly after that, witnesses said. He vomited and over the next one to two hours, Patrick Campbell cleared his airway to help him breathe. Patrick Campbell and the boys also tried to revive Leland by dragging him to the ocean’s edge and letting cold water wash over him. Leland eventually stopped breathing and was taken by helicopter to Westlake Medical Center in Westlake Village. He died two days later.

Leland’s blood alcohol level shortly after drinking the whiskey may have been as high as 0.52%, said Joseph Lawrence Cogan, forensic pathologist for the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.

Leland’s family members, who have sat through hours of testimony in the four-day preliminary hearing, said they were happy with the ruling but said it did little to ease the pain.

“Very frankly, I’d forgive them if they saw him in trouble and took him to help,” said Leland’s mother, Jenny Scovis. “But to see a kid lie there and gurgle--I wouldn’t do that to a dog or cat or anything.”

Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Carol A. Clem, who is representing David Campbell, said she had no comment on Mira’s decision.

But Patrick Campbell’s attorney, William J. Hardy, said he was not surprised.

“It may very well have to go to trial to resolve the manslaughter case,” he said.

The three will be arraigned in Santa Monica Superior Court on Aug. 31.