May 23, 2008

Man found guilty in 2004 murder

By Shaun Bishop / Daily News Staff Writer

A Daly City man was found guilty Thursday of second-degree murder for fatally stabbing 21-year-old Redwood City resident Timothy Griffith after a San Francisco Giants game in 2004.

Rafael Cuevas, 26, faces 16 years to life in prison for the slaying at AT&T Park - then called SBC Park - as a result of a San Francisco Superior Court jury's unanimous verdict.

Griffith's mother, Stacey Redman, said after the verdict she felt "we got what we could have" in terms of justice for her son.

"It's hard to say because nothing will ever bring Tim back," Redman said. "I'm pleased it came in with the maximum" conviction of second-degree murder.

Griffith, a Woodside High School graduate, was walking along Terry A. Francois Boulevard after the game Sept. 17, 2004 - the night Barry Bonds hit his 700th career home run - when he reportedly banged on the window of Cuevas' car.

Cuevas, then 22, got out of the car and a confrontation ensued as a group of people began to fight along the waterfront.

During the fight, Cuevas pulled out a knife and stabbed Griffith five times, including three times near his heart, according to a medical examiner. Griffith later died at a hospital.

After the killing, Cuevas fled to his grandfather's property in Sonora, Mexico, but after taking a pilgrimage to a religious festival in Magdalena, he decided to surrender. He was arrested re-entering the United States at the Arizona border Oct. 1, 2004.

Cuevas admitted to stabbing Griffith but claimed he was being choked from behind during the fight and swung his knife wildly in self-defense. Prosecutors, and jurors, rejected that argument.

"This was a senseless killing with no justification," said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris in a written statement. "The defendant brought a deadly weapon, a knife, into a fight against an unarmed man and for that he is rightly facing years behind bars."

For Griffith's mother, the legal chapter in the ordeal can be closed because her son's killer will be locked up "for taking Tim's life over nothing."

She said the five-week trial and more than three years of delays were difficult to endure. She drove to San Francisco courtrooms more than 35 times.

"Harry Dorfman, the D.A., just did a great job, and stuck with it over such a long period of time," she said.

Cuevas also was charged with felony assault against Carlos Ortega, who was beaten unconscious during the brawl. But the jury found him not guilty.

Cuevas will appear before Judge Cynthia Lee today for a sentencing date.

Coincidentally, Thursday's verdict comes as a Peninsula man prepares to stand trial for killing a Redwood City man outside of AT&T Park on May 9.

In that case, prosecutors allege that San Carlos resident Taylor Buckley, 18, "sucker-punched" Anthony Giraudo, also 18, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. Giraudo died the following day.

Buckley is due back in court on June 25. His attorney said he will plead not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges.



Staff and wire reports contributed to this report.

E-mail Shaun Bishop atsbishop@dailynewsgroup.com.