Five La Jolla, Calif., men (inset) are charged with murder in the beating death of surfing sensation Emery Kauanui last May.
(ABC)
A San Diego jury has convicted a man of murder for fatally injuring a professional surfer with a punch during a scuffle.
Seth Cravens was convicted Tuesday and could face life in prison when he is sentenced in January.
The 22-year-old Cravens said he acted in self-defense when he punched Emery Kauanui (KOW'-ah-noo-ee) in May 2007.
The surfer suffered severe head trauma when he fell outside his mother's home in the wealthy seaside community of La Jolla; he died a few days later.
An attorney for Cravens, Mary Ellen Attridge, declined to comment to reporters.
Prosecutors say the scuffle stemmed from a dispute that started at a bar.
Four other people initially were charged with murder but pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were sentenced in September to between 90 and 249 days in jail.
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