Youth Says Group Lied About Drinking Death

Friends of a Thousand Oaks boy who died of alcohol poisoning during an April camping trip lied to police to protect the chaperons who gave the 14-year-old part of a bottle of whiskey and bet him he could not chug it, one of the teen-agers testified Wednesday.

Bruce, whose last name was withheld during the preliminary hearing in the manslaughter case, said he and the other teen-agers on the camping trip at Leo Carrillo State Beach first told police that Leland Scovis had been given the whiskey by two strangers on the beach.

They told the story to shield David Campbell, Patrick Campbell and Priscilla Vernon, said Bruce, who was 17 at the time of the alleged crime but has since turned 18.

“We were fabricating a story so they wouldn’t go to jail,� Bruce said during testimony in the Malibu Municipal Court hearing. “Just so Dave and Priscilla wouldn’t be put in jail for supplying the booze.�

David Campbell, 29, and Patrick Campbell, 23, who are brothers, are each charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, four counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Vernon, 21, of Newbury Park, is charged with being an accessory to involuntary manslaughter and with five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Vernon is the sister of one of the five boys on the trip and is engaged to David Campbell.

The teen-agers on the trip could be charged with being accessories to manslaughter and with giving false information to a police officer, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Gordon.

However, the district attorney’s office will grant them immunity if they give truthful, full testimony, he said.

Bruce testified that he, Leland and three other boys arrived at the campground about 10 p.m. April 14. David Campbell told a ranger that he would take responsibility for them, he said.

About 30 minutes later, David Campbell went to a cooler in the back of his car and got 12 cans of beer, which he and an unidentified man carried to the beach. Patrick Campbell brought a half-gallon bottle of Jim Beam whiskey, Bruce said.

Everybody but Vernon drank the beer for about 15 minutes while Leland drank five or six shots of whiskey, boasting about how much he could drink, Bruce said.

Patrick Campbell then bet one of the boys on the trip $5 or $10 that Leland could not drink the rest of the whiskey without throwing up, Bruce said.

Meanwhile, David Campbell said he wanted money to pay for his bottle of whiskey, and one of the boys gave him $10, Bruce said.

Vernon told the group that drinking was not a good idea and left. Leland then started drinking the whiskey remaining in the bottle, Bruce said.

“He just downed it within two minutes,� said Bruce, who struggled through the testimony, often dabbing tears from his eyes. “He downed half of it, stopped a few seconds and then finished it.�

Fifteen minutes later, the boy lay down, lost consciousness and vomited, Bruce said.

Patrick Campbell continued for the next hour to stick his fingers down Leland’s throat, clearing his airway. He also performed the Heimlich maneuver several times over the next hour to force Leland to vomit, Bruce said.

In an effort to revive Leland, Patrick Campbell suggested that they strip off his clothes and let the ocean water wash over him and wake him up, Bruce said.

Leland remained unconscious, and, at some later point, Patrick Campbell left the teen-agers and returned to the campsite to sleep, Bruce said.

David Campbell already had gone to the campsite because he had to get up early in the morning, Bruce said.

Bruce said the boys were worried about Leland vomiting in his sleep but did not realize the seriousness of the situation.

“Not one of us has ever heard that you could consume too much and die,� he said.

But as the boys were dragging Leland to Bruce’s truck to carry him back to the campsite, they realized that the boy had stopped breathing, Bruce said.

Patrick Campbell was summoned and cleared Leland’s airway, Bruce said.

But by the time the boys reached the campsite, Leland was again experiencing problems breathing, he said.

David Campbell then gave Leland mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for about five minutes before Leland began breathing again, Bruce said.

They decided Leland needed to go to the hospital, and Bruce and two other boys began driving Leland in the truck.

Only 50 feet from the campsite, Bruce said, they realized that Leland would not survive the drive. They pulled over and called paramedics, who arrived about 15 minutes later.

Leland was taken by helicopter to Westlake Medical Center in Westlake Village. He died two days later.

As Bruce and two of the boys waited with David Campbell and Vernon in the hospital, the group began discussing the idea of lying about the night’s events, Bruce said. David Campbell mentioned that he was afraid of going to jail, Bruce said.

Fifteen minutes later, when Bruce was questioned by a deputy from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, he told him that two strangers walked up to the boys on the beach, gave them alcohol and bet Leland that he could not drink the whiskey, Bruce said.