VIRGINIA BEACH — A man who faced a felony manslaughter charge for his role in a deadly 2022 bar fight was instead found guilty this week of misdemeanor assault.
Wesley Horbal initially was charged with voluntary manslaughter, but prosecutors amended his indictment to involuntary manslaughter during trial this week. A jury then acquitted Horbal of that charge Thursday, choosing instead to convict him of the lesser offense.
Sentencing was set for July 10. The maximum Horbal could get is a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. If he’d been convicted of manslaughter he would have faced the possibility of 10 years in prison.
Horbal’s lawyers, James Broccoletti and Mario Lorello, argued the incident was an accident and that their client was trying to defend himself.
“Anytime a case involves a death, it is of course an absolute tragedy,” Lorello said in message to APP. “This was ultimately an accident. Our client was in the midst of defending himself from an unprovoked attack by a complete stranger, and the jury recognized that the evidence did not support a manslaughter charge and rightfully found him not guilty.”
The incident happened Aug. 11 at CP Shucker’s Café & Raw Bar on Shore Drive and was captured on video.
Horbal, then 26, was with some friends on the restaurant’s patio when J. Moore Jr., 52, threw a beer bottle in their direction. The bottle struck Horbal in the back of the head, and he went to confront Moore.
Moore swung another bottle and a fist at Horbal before a fight between the two broke out. Moore eventually broke away from the fight and was running toward the street when Horbal chased after him, grabbed him by the shirt, and then kicked him in the head after he fell to the ground.
While prosecutors argued Horbal slammed Moore to the ground, the defense contended that he fell. Moore’s blood alcohol was determined to be over .30%, more than three times the legal limit for driving.
Moore was taken to a hospital, where it was discovered that he’d suffered a fractured skull and brain bleed. He died two weeks later. A defense expert testified that it was the fall to the ground that caused Moore’s death, and not the kick to the head.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
