Criminal charges for a former Marine who accepted a plea deal last year for his role in a St. Patrick’s Day fight that killed another man in a Dana Point restaurant were dismissed on Tuesday, Oct. 15, after he died while awaiting his final sentencing hearing.
Jack Griffin Isaacson was 21 years old when he pleaded guilty in July 2023 to a felony count of battery with serious bodily injury rather than the involuntary manslaughter charge he had initially faced for the death of 38-year-old Michael Terry.
Isaacson had served a six-month term of home confinement, according to court records, and was expected to have his felony conviction reduced to a misdemeanor at his sentencing hearing.
Orange County District Attorney’s Office officials said Isaacson died of an overdose, leading the prosecutor to request his criminal case be formally dismissed. The details and exact date of his death were not immediately clear. Records show Isaacson last made an appearance in court in February, with his attorney appearing on his behalf during court hearings in July and August.
Isaacson, who was stationed at the time at Camp Pendleton, got into an altercation with Terry, a Laguna Niguel resident, at Beach Harbor Pizza on Golden Lantern around 7 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day in 2022.
A defense attorney previously said that Terry was drunk and acting aggressively toward other customers when he got into a confrontation with Isaacson, who was also a boxer.
Isaacson was remorseful over Terry’s death, his defense attorney said at the time of his plea deal.
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