2 Plead No Contest in Alcohol-Poisoning Death : Courts: Brothers were charged with involuntary manslaughter of boy who was allegedly goaded into chugging whiskey.

Two brothers from Thousand Oaks pleaded no contest Friday to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the April death of a 14-year-old boy whom they allegedly goaded into chugging whiskey they had supplied, authorities said.

David Campbell, 29, and Patrick Campbell, 23, entered their pleas in Los Angeles Superior Court in Santa Monica in the alcohol-poisoning death of Leland Scovis, authorities said.

“I’m real pleased,” said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Gordon. “I think it’s a real important case and I think it’s a real good disposition for everyone involved.”

David and Patrick Campbell, who remain free on $5,000 bail each, could not be reached for comment. But attorney Richard Herzog, who represents Patrick Campbell, said he probably will introduce evidence of mitigating circumstances for his client at the sentencing scheduled for March. He declined to comment further on the case.

Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Carol A. Clem, who is representing David Campbell, declined to comment.

Leland was the youngest of five teen-age boys who went on a camping trip April 14 to Leo Carrillo State Beach chaperoned by the Campbells and David Campbell’s fiancee, Priscilla Vernon, authorities said. Leland was invited by Vernon’s brother, who was a friend, according to testimony during the preliminary hearing in August.

At the beginning of the trip, David Campbell told a park ranger that he would take responsibility for the boys when they arrived at the park, according to court testimony. He and Patrick Campbell later supplied them with 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 bottle of whiskey without getting sick, according to testimony.

Leland chugged the alcohol and collapsed shortly thereafter, witnesses said. For the next hour, Patrick Campbell stuck his fingers down Leland’s throat to clear his airway, they said.

At some point, both Campbell brothers left the teen-agers on the beach and returned to the campsite, witnesses said. Later, as the boys tried to take Leland back to the campsite, they noticed he was having problems breathing, they said.

After some attempts by the Campbell brothers to revive the boy, paramedics were called and Leland was taken by helicopter to Westlake Medical Center in Westlake Village. He died two days later. Experts later testified that Leland may have had a 0.52% blood alcohol level shortly after drinking the whiskey.

The Campbell brothers were ordered to 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 misdemeanor counts will be dropped at the sentencing, Gordon said. The brothers could each face up to two years in state prison, authorities said.

Vernon also 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.

But a Santa Monica Superior Court judge subsequently dismissed the accessory to manslaughter count, saying there was not enough evidence presented to implicate Vernon in Leland’s death. The other charges were dropped, Gordon said.