Whether an 18-year-old Live Oak High senior will face a
misdemeanor criminal of battery is up to the Santa Clara County
District Attorney
’s office.
Whether an 18-year-old Live Oak High senior will face a misdemeanor criminal of battery is up to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.
The Morgan Hill Police Department report was turned over Friday for review to Frank Carrubba, supervising attorney in the DA’s South Valley office in San Martin.
“I’ve read the report,” Carrubba said Friday afternoon. “I want to speak to school officials and those directly involved.”
Carrubba anticipates a decision will be made early next week.
Christopher Smith, 18, of Morgan Hill, was cited and released Oct. 20 on one misdemeanor count of battery. He was arrested for tossing a rubber ball at a Sheriff’s Office deputy dressed as the Grim Reaper as part of the high school’s Every 15 Minutes program aimed at convincing students of the dangers of drinking and driving.
Deputy Ron Breuss, dressed as the Grim Reaper, arrested Smith and turned him over to the police school resource officer on duty.
Police Chief Bruce Cumming and Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith have become directly involved in the case that has received media attention from throughout the Bay Area. They exchanged phone calls Tuesday and Friday.
Cumming is clear on his stance.
“I wished it would have been handled differently,” Cumming said Thursday evening. “The kid was wrong. He shouldn’t have done what he did, but justice would have been served if it were to have been handled by the school.
“It was not appropriate for the kid to throw anything at anyone in a classroom.”
Cumming said Friday it was “highly unlikely charges would be filed. I’ve felt that way from the beginning.”
Sheriff Smith described Breuss as “a great deputy” who has been a school resource officer. She said he regularly volunteers for the “Every 15 Minutes” program.
Breuss, a Live Oak High graduate, could not be reached for comment.
“He gives a lot. I trust his judgment as a deputy,” Smith said Thursday, acknowledging that the incident is being reviewed by her department.
Smith said she has been trading phone messages with Live Oak Principal Nick Boden.
Superintendent Carolyn McKennan said Smith remains in class at Live Oak. She said the district regards it as a police, not a school, matter.
Cumming and Smith said they want to have a resolution as soon as possible so that the incident does not overshadow the good coming from the program based on increased awareness of the fact that every 15 minutes a person is killed in an alcohol-related traffic collision in the United States.
It included a mass “funeral” as students and parents gathered to mourn the “deaths” of 25 of their classmates.
Students, parents and school officials described the two days as an emotion-filled.
Smith acknowledges that the racquet ball, made of soft rubber, hit the Grim Reaper on his back shoulder.
Smith said he thought the Grim Reaper was actually PE coach Glen Webb, whom he knows well and jokes around with.
“If I had to do it all over again, I never would have thrown the ball,” Smith said Tuesday. “As soon as he asked who threw the ball I stood up. I apologized.”
The Morgan Hill police report states the teacher pointed out Smith to the deputy as the student who had thrown the ball after he asked who had done it.
Smith described the throw as a soft toss.
