By BRANDON LOWREY blowrey@nctimes.com
A man who threw a punch that killed another man during an Oceanside bar fight was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty last month to assault causing great bodily injury.
Bruce Erwin Hamil, 36, was initially charged with murder after Willie Hoyle, 53, died in a hospital on Sept. 28, 2010. But a judge ruled in June that there was insufficient evidence to try Hamil for murder. Hamil pleaded guilty to assault last month.
On Sept. 26, 2010, Hamil and his girlfriend were at Hosie's Pacific Pub, drinking with friends. Hamil's girlfriend saw Hoyle nearby and asked him for a cigarette, according to past reports.
Hamil then shoved Hoyle, and punched him in the head. By the time authorities arrived, Hoyle was barely breathing, an Oceanside police sergeant testified in October 2010.
Hamil and his girlfriend left the bar. Police found them nearby in a car and arrested Hamil.
Doctors at Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, pronounced Hoyle brain dead that night. Hoyle, an employee at a local furniture store, was removed from life support two days later.
Hamil was convicted of assault in 1998 and had a misdemeanor DUI case filed against him several months before the deadly bar fight. The prior assault conviction added time to his sentence, the judge said.
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/oceanside/oceanside-man-sentenced-to-years-in-deadly-punch/article_5f51e124-3c98-58ed-9483-c856bcf65a4d.html#ixzz1ik5eJtnD
Bruce Erwin Hamil, 36, was initially charged with murder after Willie Hoyle, 53, died in a hospital on Sept. 28, 2010. But a judge ruled in June that there was insufficient evidence to try Hamil for murder. Hamil pleaded guilty to assault last month.
On Sept. 26, 2010, Hamil and his girlfriend were at Hosie's Pacific Pub, drinking with friends. Hamil's girlfriend saw Hoyle nearby and asked him for a cigarette, according to past reports.
Hamil then shoved Hoyle, and punched him in the head. By the time authorities arrived, Hoyle was barely breathing, an Oceanside police sergeant testified in October 2010.
Hamil and his girlfriend left the bar. Police found them nearby in a car and arrested Hamil.
Doctors at Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, pronounced Hoyle brain dead that night. Hoyle, an employee at a local furniture store, was removed from life support two days later.
Hamil was convicted of assault in 1998 and had a misdemeanor DUI case filed against him several months before the deadly bar fight. The prior assault conviction added time to his sentence, the judge said.
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/oceanside/oceanside-man-sentenced-to-years-in-deadly-punch/article_5f51e124-3c98-58ed-9483-c856bcf65a4d.html#ixzz1ik5eJtnD
