The fate of a 60-year-old transient accused of helping to bury alive his girlfriend in the sand at the Oceano Dunes earlier this year now rests in the hands of a seven-woman, five-man jury.

Jurors heard closing arguments Friday in the case against David Cartwright, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Patricia Ann Kalbskopf, 53, his girlfriend of almost three years.

Cartwright, along with his homeless friends, Kelly Johnson, 42, and James Proffer, 52, are accused of burying the woman in about eight inches of sand on May 14 after she passed out at the group's campsite from drinking.

An autopsy revealed Kalbskopf, also a transient, died of asphyxiation as a result of sand burial.

During an interview with a sheriff's detective the day after Kalbskopf's death, Cartwright told the investigator that it was Johnson's idea to cover the woman with the sand. Cartwright said Johnson thought it would be funny, and he said it was Johnson who put the most sand on the victim, and covered her head and face with sand.

Proffer and Johnson have also been charged with involuntary manslaughter for Kalbskopf's death and are expected to face a jury trial early next month, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Cartwright also admitted in the interview, which jurors watched Monday, that he was drunk, along with Kalbskopf and the other two men, and also put sand on the victim but only a couple of handfuls.

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To find Cartwright guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the jurors must all agree that he either aided and abetted Johnson and Proffer in the commission of a crime or he committed battery by putting sand on the victim.

“You are the fact finders in this case ... where the rubber meets the road,” Deputy District Attorney Matt Kerrigan told the jurors. “After you look at the facts in the case ... it's going to be obvious it was not a practical joke gone awry. It was an intentional act.”

Cartwright also told investigators that Johnson didn't like his girlfriend, and that the pair had argued prior to Johnson starting to pile sand on Kalbskopf, who asked him to stop before passing out.

Kerrigan implored the jury to come back with a guilty verdict.

“Patricia Kalbskopf was buried alive to prove a point,” Kerrigan said. “This wasn't a joke. The incident was designed to humiliate and harass her. That's why they did this. (David Cartwright) aided and abetted in her death. He's guilty.”

Jay Peterson, Cartwright's attorney, told the jury that the only thing his client is guilty of was being too intoxicated to help Kalbskopf.

“He threw a couple of handfuls of sand on her at best ... (which) doesn't rise to the level of helping Mr. Johnson get even or harass,” Peterson said. “It's a tragic accident, but he

didn't commit a crime.”

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

August 23, 2008