No charges in road-rage death
Banker was the aggressor in fatal fight, and his companion backs other witnesses, says the DA.
By Mareva Brown -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, May 18, 2005
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No criminal charges will be filed in the death of Mark Leidheisl, who died after starting a fight following a Sacramento Kings game last month while drunk and possibly under the influence of opiates, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Leidheisl, a Wells Fargo senior vice president, first attacked one man and then another before being punched in the face, according to the statement released by Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully. That blow sent him to the pavement, where his head slammed against the asphalt. He died two days later of a severe brain injury.
"Mr. Leidheisl started the fight; he was the aggressor," said Deputy District Attorney Lana Wyant. "He wasn't attacked."
Attorneys for both men involved in the fight said their clients - Jeff Berndt and Donnie Garibaldi, both 45 - were relieved by Tuesday's decision but remain saddened by the death of Leidheisl.
Berndt, a tree trimmer from Lodi, and Garibaldi, the director of a Lodi real estate management company, were leaving the Arco Arena parking lot in Garibaldi's Infiniti sport-utility vehicle after the game when they were confronted by an angry Leidheisl in his Mercedes-Benz.
"Jeff is very happy and very, very thankful," said attorney Doug Jacobsen, who represents Berndt, the man who threw the single punch. "He hopes to get his first full night of sleep since this thing happened."
He said Berndt was "too overwhelmed" to speak publicly about the case.
"I like to think that the truth will out, and it did here," said Garibaldi's attorney, Randy Thomas. "I think Mr. (David) Ott told the truth and my client told the truth and the Police Department did a thorough investigation."
Ott was a passenger in Leidheisl's car.
But a lawyer for Leidheisl's widow, Holly, said that Ott described to his client a different series of events and that she is considering filing a civil suit against the two Lodi men.
"She's angry," said the attorney, Don Heller.
Leidheisl, 39, was described by family members and friends as a devoted father to his son, Taylor, and an earnest banker. Heller said Taylor, who turned 13 about two weeks after the fight, has struggled with his father's high-publicity death.
"It's just been awful," Heller said. "To lose your dad and in something that's been so highly publicized is really difficult for him."
Heller said the opiates found in Leidheisl's blood may be related to prescriptions for migraines. He said an anti-depressant, Paxil, which was found in Leidheisl's car that night, was also dispensed following a doctor's prescription.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that in addition to the Paxil, there was an "extended tab Morphine" and an unidentified third pill in an unmarked pill bottle in Leidheisl's car.
Leidheisl's blood-alcohol level was 0.13 percent - more than 1 1/2 times the legal limit - when it was taken at UC Davis Medical Center.
Among the critical factors in the district attorney's decision about whether to file criminal charges in the case, which has been the subject of intense interest from the public, was the fact that Ott corroborated the statements of virtually every witness at the game and the two men involved in the fight.
Witnesses at the game and Ott described "a consistent pattern of insulting and aggressive behavior by Mr. Leidheisl" during the April 20 Kings game against the Phoenix Suns, Scully said in her statement.
One man, who sat in front of Leidheisl at the game, told Sacramento police investigators that Leidheisl was intentionally flicking his headphones and the attached antenna. Others at the game said he was watching men walk up the stairs at Arco Arena and telling Ott that he could "take" them in a fight.
As fans left the game, Leidheisl was "driving recklessly and at an excessive speed," according to Scully's statement. Ott told police investigators he was "scared of Mark's driving and was telling him to slow down," the report said.
At one point, a traffic officer yelled at Leidheisl to slow down.
Leidheisl first encountered Garibaldi in the parking lot where two traffic lanes merged into one. The banker became angry when he had to slam the brakes to avoid hitting Garibaldi, according to Ott's statement to police.
As the two vehicles traveled down Truxel Road, Leidheisl began "aggressively" challenging Garibaldi and Berndt to fight, all three witnesses told police. When Leidheisl pulled off onto Prosper Drive, Garibaldi followed.
"Just before the turn, Leidheisl asked Ott if he (Ott) thought they could take them," Scully said in her report. "Ott admitted replying, 'Yeah, let's take these guys.' "
But when Ott and Berndt emerged from the passenger seats of their respective vehicles, they did not fight.
Ott told police that he made eye contact with Berndt and told him the fight was Leidheisl's "deal" and that he wanted no part of it. He backed a short distance from Leidheisl's car into a nearby field.
Meanwhile, the two drivers quickly became entangled in a fight. Ott told detectives he thought Leidheisl was losing; Berndt saw it differently.
Sensing that his friend was about to be hurt, Berndt stepped in to break up the fight, according to Scully's report. As Garibaldi headed for his car, Leidheisl turned on Berndt.
"Berndt deflected most of these blows, but one struck him on the side of the head, by the right ear," Scully's report said. "Berndt responded with one punch, striking Leidheisl in the face, likely in the lower mouth area."
As Leidheisl hit the asphalt, the two Lodi men drove away. Ott, meanwhile, came to Leidheisl's side, saw he was bleeding from the head and called 911.
The next day, after hearing that Leidheisl was near death, Garibaldi and Berndt and their attorneys voluntarily came to Sacramento police investigators to make statements. "Each of the four men involved in this series of events exercised poor judgment," Scully said in the press release. "(But) the exercise of poor judgment does not equal criminal conduct in this case."
