Defense: manslaughter, not murder

A Newport Beach man didn’t intentionally kill a liquor store owner during a robbery because he returned a stolen magazine before pushing him to the ground and accidentally killing him, a defense attorney argued Tuesday.

Whether Weston Scott Kruger, 31, brought a pornographic magazine back to Sportsman Liquor Store owner Hao “Tony” Huynh before fatally shoving him to the ground is the focus of the defense.

Kruger, a former Newport Harbor High School student, is charged with murder with an enhancement for killing in the commission of a robbery. If convicted, he faces a life sentence without parole.

Kruger’s attorney, alternate public defender Jeremy Dolnick, and Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy presented their opening statements to a jury in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana.

Murphy argued that on July 28, 2007, when Kruger stole the magazine and Huynh followed him out of the store demanding it back, Kruger shoved him and ran.

Witnesses reported that Huynh, who was about 5 foot 3 and 110 pounds, compared with the 6-foot-5, 275-pound Kruger, was thrown into the air when he was pushed, Murphy said.

They told police they all heard a distinct “thudding, crunching sound,” when Huynh’s head slammed into the pavement, Murphy said.

“It was a hollow clang, like the sound of pain,” testified Alec Cattarin, the prosecution’s first witness. “It’s a sound you cringe at.”

Huynh had a 4- to 5-inch crack in the back of his head from the impact and died a day later from bleeding in the brain.

Kruger went to the liquor store at 2615 Newport Blvd. to buy cigarettes. While inside, he rolled up an adult magazine and shoved it in his pocket, concealing it under a shirt he was also carrying, prosecutors said.

Huynh spotted the magazine and confronted Kruger, who denied he had stolen anything and then threw his shirt at Huynh and walked out, authorities said.

The attorneys have different accounts on what happened after Huynh followed Kruger out of the store.

Dolnick says Kruger simply wanted to stop Huynh from pestering him so he gave the magazine back, then pushed Huynh to back him off.

That, Dolnick told the jury, absolves him of the robbery enhancement because he didn’t possess the stolen property anymore.

It wasn’t until after he pushed Huynh down that he went back and picked up the adult publication and left, he said.

Kruger should be found guilty of manslaughter, Dolnick told the jury.

Cattarin testified that he never saw Kruger give the magazine back before pushing Huynh.

Kruger has two other criminal cases pending the outcome of this trial. He is also accused of an armed robbery and beating his girlfriend and shoving her face into a bowl of dog food.

Murphy said he may rest his case this afternoon with Dolnick possibly wrapping up his defense by Monday.