OC Man Convicted In Fatal Crash That Killed 'TapouT' Founder
SANTA ANA (CBS) — A Costa Mesa man was convicted today of causing a crash that killed mixed-martial arts clothing entrepreneur Charles "Mask" Lewis.
Jeffrey David Kirby, 53, was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter for causing the March 11, 2009, crash in Newport Beach.
Jurors began deliberating Tuesday afternoon, and deliberated for about a half-day today before reaching a verdict.
Prosecutors said Kirby was drunk, speeding and should have known better than to get behind the wheel because he had a previous drunken driving conviction.
Kirby's defense attorney said during his closing argument, however, that Kirby did not realize his 1977 Porsche had struck Lewis' 2004 Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, which careened into a light pole and was ripped in two on impact.
Attorney Mark Fredrick also argued the crash was Lewis' fault because he was racing past Kirby, who was trying to get out of the way.
Though both were allegedly speeding — even rumored to be racing — the attorneys did not focus on that aspect of the case.
Lewis, 45, was killed almost instantly in the crash, and passenger Lacy Lynn White, who was thrown from the car, survived with a broken elbow and cuts and bruises.
Lewis, of Huntington Beach, was a former mixed-martial arts fighter and promoter and the founder of the TapouT clothing line, which had 2007 revenue of $22.5 million.
Although Kirby was convicted, jurors rejected the sentencing enhancement of fleeing the scene of the crash.
Fredrick denied during the trial that Kirby fled the scene of the deadly crash, saying the law requires a driver to stop their vehicle as soon as reasonably possible.
"How about the first legal parking spot," Fredrick said, noting Kirby stopped the car down the road after the crash and told a Newport Beach officer what happened.
Fredrick contended Kirby was driving his Porsche on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach about 1 a.m. with his date, Lynn Marie Nabozny, in the passenger seat, when he passed Lewis in the Ferrari.
Shortly after that, Kirby saw the Ferrari closing the distance on the Porsche at a rate of speed "that was absolutely fearful," Fredrick told jurors.
Kirby lost control of his car as he swung the wheel suddenly to get out of the way, Fredrick said.
Fredrick said Kirby regained control of the car, stopped and inspected the damage to his vehicle.
"You see more damage to a vehicle in a supermarket fender bender," Fredrick said as he showed jurors pictures of the Porsche. "Isn't it reasonable to assume a car spinning around hits a curb and that the damage was from the curb?"
He insisted that neither Kirby nor Nabozny realized that Lewis' car had crashed.
Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez scoffed at the notion the two could not hear a crash that split a car in half and toppled a light pole.
He also accused Kirby of ditching his damaged Porsche on Bison Avenue after the crash. Kirby and Nabozny were arrested nearby.
Kirby had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 percent about two hours after the crash, Baez said.
He also attacked the credibility of Nabozny, arguing she made multiple statements to investigators the night of the crash that contradicted with her later trial testimony.
"Was she lying or mistaken? I don't care because I don't have to prove it either way," Baez said.
Nabozny's testimony that Kirby was not racing with Lewis contradicts her statements to police at the scene that the two were in a "cat and mouse game," Baez argued.
"Ms. Nabozny has a clear bias. You saw it that night and you saw it on the stand," Baez said.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey ruled during the trial that jurors would not hear evidence that Kirby also had marijuana in his system.
(©2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
