Man sentenced to eight months for fatal punch

Ex-bouncer pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter

SAN JOSE — A former bouncer for a downtown San Jose nightclub was sentenced Thursday to eight months in county jail in connection with a confrontation last year where he punched a patron who later died.

Jose Bonilla Rodas, 29, of East Palo Alto, had pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the March 28, 2015, death of 24-year-old Danny Esquivel of Palo Alto. Judge Arthur Bocanegra ordered the jail term and an ensuing three years of probation.

Rodas expressed remorse for his act during the court hearing, but to Esquivel’s family and friends, many of whom gave tearful testimonies known as impact statements, the sentence was too lenient.

“He gets an eight-month sentence and I have a lifetime sentence without Danny,” said Blanca Martinez, Esquivel’s mother. “His family will still be able to hear from him, see him, and we don’t have that.”

Esquivel was at the Myth Taverna and Lounge at Post and South San Pedro streets in the early morning hours of March 28 when he was escorted out for reportedly clashing with someone inside. Once outside, police and witnesses said an argument ensued that ended with Bonilla punching Esquivel, who fell to the ground and was knocked unconscious.

Friends who were with Esquivel put him into a car and eventually drove him to Stanford Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead later that morning. The coroner’s office determined Esquivel died from a skull fracture to the back of his head and “blunt-force craniocerebral injuries due to fall due to physical altercation.”

Alawsuit filed by Esquivel’s family against the Myth Taverna is still pending. In the filing, the family accuses ownership and management of failing to maintain a safe environment and hiring unlicensed security personnel. This newspaper confirmed that Bonilla did not have a state license known as a “guard card” that affirms a baseline clearance to perform security work.

Deputy district attorney Michael Vidmar said Bonilla will likely serve four months of his total sentence. Sentencing guidelines in California allow convicts with no prior felony history to be eligible for what is known as half time.

Vidmar said it was clear from the circumstances of the case that Bonilla had to be held responsible for Esquivel’s death.

“If it wasn’t for the aggressive act carried out by the defendant,” he said, “we would not have had the loss of life that we did.”