Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 5/15/08 Section: Opinion

Mark Powell

In a city once made famous for its declarations of peace and love, a single, ill-advised punch changed two lives forever.

It hasn't been reported with certainty exactly why San Carlos resident and Carlmont High School senior Taylor Buckley slammed his fist into the side of 18-year-old Anthony Giraudo's face outside AT&T Park following a San Francisco Giants game last Friday.

What has been reported is that Giraudo collapsed from the impact of the hit, which Assistant District Attorney George Butterworth called a sucker punch, and fell to the ground with his head smacking the pavement.

On Saturday at San Francisco General Hospital, Giraudo, a first-year student and baseball player at Cañada College, was pronounced dead.

Buckley was released on $200,000 bail Wednesday afternoon, a figure lowered by $800,000 earlier that morning by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith. But the end of this regretful situation, which came suddenly for Giraudo, is far from sight for Buckley.

June 25 will be the date when Buckley enters a plea to the charge of involuntary manslaughter - more than one month away, and more than enough time for some questions to be answered.

Did these two young men have a history? Authorities reportedly have said no, they didn't know each other before Friday's altercation.

Did something happen inside AT&T Park those few hours before they crossed paths outside?

That information was not made public as of Wednesday afternoon, but if you've ever been to a professional baseball stadium - even in the "peaceful" city of San Francisco - you've found out that it's hardly inhabited by sober, passive fans, never prone to make mistakes.

Tensions can run high at AT&T Park, like many ballparks, and even if the Giants' opponent for the night isn't a hated West Coast rival, altercations can occur.

Moments of lamentable frustration happened, wrongly.

In terms of Buckley's moment of lamentable frustration, it might sound deplorable to say there was almost innocence behind Buckley's punch - as innocent as punching someone in the face can be, anyways.

How many people would make the assumption that it was Buckley's intention to kill Giraudo?

Assuming, however, for either side, would be an unfortunate decision at this time. Neither I nor anyone else can say in full confidence that the punch was merely a punch coupled with a chance manner of falling that produces a fatal head injury.

Only Buckley knows what he set out to do when he threw his fist into the side of another man's face, sending Giraudo to the ground and both lives spiraling downward.

Buckley spent one night in jail Saturday, where he surely had time to think about how different his life was going to be after what should have been just another night at another baseball game.

He has 42 days to think about how he will plea.

And we'll have 42 days to think about how Buckley's attorney requested that his client's bail be lowered further

because his client was trustworthy and a valued member of his community.

For the sake of two young men, and the families that are forever changed by this incident, the trustworthiest thing for Buckley to do would be to enlighten everyone as to not just how, but why he threw that punch.

It may even allow everyone involved to begin thinking a little more about peace and love in its wake.

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