Trial is underway in the Orange County Superior Court in the case of a man charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2008 death of 44-year-old Steven Toole. 

The 48-year-old defendant, Richard Lee Thompson, is accused of hitting the victim in the back of the head with a pool cue during a St. Patrick’s Day barroom brawl at Breakers in Cypress. The victim succumbed to his injuries the following day.  The defendant, however, contends he was acting in self-defense after the victim assaulted him unprovoked. 

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum of four years in state prison.