Brief sentence likely in death of author

SAN FRANCISCO -- A UC Berkeley journalism student who drove the car in the collision that killed Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam pleaded no contest Tuesday to one count of vehicular manslaughter.

Graduate student Kevin Jones, 27, who had volunteered to drive Halberstam to an interview with professional football great Y.A. Tittle, faces up to 30 days in jail under a plea agreement worked out with San Mateo County prosecutors.

Superior Court Judge Mark Forcum said he would consider sentencing Jones to five to 10 days in jail and allowing him to serve the remainder of his time performing community service. Jones did not appear in court but must be present for his sentencing on the misdemeanor charge. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 14.

In April, Jones was driving Halberstam from Berkeley to the interview in Mountain View, Calif., about 30 miles south of San Francisco. They were traveling through Menlo Park along Bayfront Expressway, a major highway with a speed limit of 50 mph, when Jones turned left onto Willow Road.

Ignoring the two left-turn lanes at the intersection, Jones turned from a lane that was not designated for turns, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Shin-Mee Chang.

“The evidence shows that he made a left turn on a red arrow from the through lane,” Chang said.

A Nissan Infiniti that was traveling in the opposite direction on the expressway and had entered the intersection on a green light hit Jones’ Toyota Camry broadside on the passenger side.

Halberstam, 73, who was riding in the front passenger seat, was wearing his seat belt but was killed instantly when a broken rib punctured his heart, the autopsy showed.

It appeared that Jones did not know the route. A Google map with directions for the trip was found at the scene, Chang said.

“He was not familiar with the area,” the prosecutor said. “I think it was his first time driving that road.”

Halberstam had spoken at an event sponsored by the UC Berkeley journalism school two nights earlier.

He was interviewing Tittle for a book he planned to write on football.

Days before his death, Halberstam had finished writing “The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War,” which he told friends was his best work.

Halberstam won the Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for his coverage of the Vietnam War while working as a correspondent for the New York Times.

He went on to write more than 20 books, including “The Best and the Brightest,” “The Breaks of the Game” and “The Powers that Be.”

richard.paddock@latimes.com