A judge began hearing evidence today in the case of a 58-year-old Long Beach man charged with drunkenly slamming his boat into a jetty during a Fourth of July celebration, killing a local baseball coach and injuring several other people on board.
The preliminary hearing, held in front of a packed Long Beach courtroom on Tuesday, centered on who was driving the 48-foot sportfishing boat during the violent collision.
Prosecutors allege that Kevin King was at the helm and was drunk as the boat headed back to dock around 9 p.m. after a sunset cruise on July 3, 2024. The wreck killed 59-year-old passenger resident John Correa, who was a well-liked volunteer baseball coach at Millikan High School.
All four witnesses who testified on Tuesday morning said King was the only person driving the boat during the trip, which began around 6 p.m. However, they all acknowledged that they did not directly witness King piloting the vessel when it crashed.
No witnesses could definitively answer how much King had to drink that night.
“He ate and drank, I wasn’t really keeping track,” said Jesse Howard, one of the passengers aboard the boat that day.
King is a well-known player in real estate investment in Los Angeles and Orange counties, having closed dozens of deals with a total value of over $120 million, according to an online real estate profile.
The charges against him — and ensuing high-powered legal battle — have been a topic of discussion among Long Beach’s wealthy and powerful. Many people involved are well-connected. Three judges, for instance, recused themselves from handling Tuesday’s hearing because of potential connections to witnesses or to King.
On Tuesday, the roughly 40-seat courtroom couldn’t hold all of the attendees for what is normally a routine hearing where a judge evaluates if there’s enough evidence for the case to go to trial. When the case couldn’t be moved to a bigger courtroom, a handful decided to remain in the hallway outside the courtroom, waiting to hear what took place.
Four passengers on the boat that night took the stand on Tuesday, answering in painstaking detail where they were on the boat and what happened after the crash.
One, Barry Vince, said he saw King with a red Solo cup in his hand before he steered the boat away from shore, but Vince said he did not know what King drank or how much.
Vince said he wondered if King was intoxicated during the trip because their route took the boat out past the breakwater, into rougher waters, an “odd” decision for their “happy hour” sunset cruise.
Jesse Howard said he was downstairs when the boat hit the jetty, and he quickly went upstairs to take control and pilot it to a safe place where the passengers could unload.
Howard said he found King “directly under the steering wheel” and saw Correa “in the dash” with his “head in the cup holder.” Correa appeared “lifeless,” Howard said.
Jesse Howard’s wife, Cynthia, recalled King driving shortly before the crash.
King had a plastic cup in his hand during the trip and “might have had a margarita,” she said.
King’s defense lawyer, Michael Balmer, repeatedly quizzed the witnesses on their knowledge of how much King drank that night or if they directly saw him driving the boat when it crashed.
King could face up to 13 years in state prison if the charges stand and he’s convicted at trial.
In April, he pleaded not guilty to the counts: felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and operating a watercraft while under the influence. King also denied special allegations that he caused great bodily injury to seven people.
One of the witnesses, Dena Noble, said the crash broke multiple bones in the left side of her face and required surgery. Cynthia Howard said she broke three ribs and required stitches in her lip to repair a hole left by one of her teeth.
In court filings ahead of the preliminary hearing, defense attorney Michael Balmer asserted that King wasn’t driving and was not intoxicated on the night of the crash.
A blood draw after the wreck showed his blood-alcohol level was at .152%, but it’s unclear if a jury would ever hear that evidence. Balmer made a motion to suppress it, because King “was never cited, questioned, or advised of any criminal investigation at the scene or in transit.” Judge Debra A. Cole has not yet ruled on that motion or a separate motion to suppress additional evidence that Balmer claimed a Long Beach Police detective obtained from the hospital without a warrant.
The preliminary hearing will continue on Tuesday afternoon. This article will be updated with further developments.