The pathologist who performed an autopsy on a woman who died after being buried in the sand at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation testified Wednesday that the victim was alive when the sand was piled on top of her.

“For the sand to reach that depth would require active breathing,” Dr. Gary Walter testified, adding that the amount of sand in the woman's mouth, trachea and bronchial tubes couldn't have got there through rescutitation efforts, as the defense contends.

Walter was the last witness called by the prosecution in its case against David Wesley Cartwright, 60, who is on trial for the May 14 death of Patricia Kalbskopf, his girlfriend of almost three years.

Cartwright, along with James Lee Proffer, 52, and Kelly Marvin Johnson, 42, have been charged with involuntary manslaughter for Kalbskopf's death. Proffer and Johnson are expected to face a jury trial next month.

The three transients are alleged to have piled about eight inches of sand on the 53-year-old Kalbskopf, also a transient, after she passed out from drinking at their Oceano Dunes campsite.

Cartwright, who admitted he was drunk at the time of Kalbskopf's death, told investigators he believed the men covered the victim with the sand around 1 p.m., and that she stopped breathing a short time later.

The men didn't call for medical aid for Kalbskopf until after 7 p.m., according to police reports.

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Walter testified Kalbskopf's body was covered in sand and that he also found large amounts of it in her eyes, nose, ears, mouth, trachea and the main bronchial tubes leading into her lungs.

In his autopsy report, Walter concluded that Kalbskopf died from asphyxiation caused by sand burial and not alcohol poisoning, as the defense has also contended.

“That sand got there (into her bronchials) because she breathed it in, right?” Deputy District Attorney Matt Kerrigan asked Walter, who replied “yes.”

He also said a person could lose consciousness and asphyxiate within a matter of minutes of having their airway blocked.

Kalbskopf's blood alcohol level at her time of death was .40, which is high enough to lead to death by alcohol poisoning, Walter said.

However, he also testified it was his opinion that the victim was a chronic alcoholic - she had a fatty liver, which indicates alcoholism - who could withstand higher amounts of alcohol than the casual drinker.

The defense was expected to present its case to the seven-woman, five-man jury today, when closing arguments were also expected to be heard.

If the jury convicts Cartwright, he faces two to four years in state prison.

August 21, 2008