Manslaughter charge OK'd in fatal Santa Rosa fight

A Sonoma County judge ruled Thursday an Oregon man may be tried for a punch that killed his friend.|
PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A Sonoma County judge ruled Thursday there is sufficient evidence to try an Oregon man on a voluntary manslaughter charge for throwing a punch police said killed his friend by knocking him face first onto a Santa Rosa sidewalk.

Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite said Bruce Lee Eyles, 30 of Eugene knew it was dangerous to hit Isaac Sturtevant, 31, also of Eugene, but did it anyway, showing a conscious disregard for human life.

The judge dismissed any notion that Eyles acted in self-defense, saying evidence showed he acted in anger after Sturtevant made rude comments about his dead mother and threw an orange at him.

Eyles, who is being held in Sonoma County Jail, faces up to 11 years in prison if he is convicted. The judge ordered him to return to court Oct. 12.

- Paul Payne

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