SAN DIEGO » A man was convicted of second-degree murder yesterday for killing a professional surfer with a single punch to the head during a scuffle.

Seth Cravens, 22, will be sentenced on Jan. 12. He could face 15 years to life in prison for the attack that killed Emery Kauanui, formerly of Kauai.

“;These verdicts send a strong message to the community that brutality will not be tolerated”; although they “;will never replace the life that has been taken,”; San Diego County Prosecutor Sophia Roach said outside court.

An attorney for Cravens, Mary Ellen Attridge, declined to comment to reporters.

Raised on Kauai, and nicknamed the “;Flying Hawaiian,”; Kauanui was a fixture at San Diego's Windansea Beach, just a few blocks from his house, where his favorite surf break is now called “;Emery's Left.”;

Prosecutors say an argument that started at a bar led to a May 24, 2007, confrontation outside the home of Kauanui's mother in the wealthy seaside enclave of La Jolla.

Cravens knocked him to the pavement. Hospitalized with severe head trauma, he died a few days later after being taken off life support.

Attorneys argued that Cravens acted in self-defense and said the right-hander punched Kauanui with his left hand. Prosecutors argued that Cravens, who did not testify during the two-week trial, instigated a deliberate group attack.

Superior Court jurors deliberated six days before convicting Cravens of second-degree murder.

On Monday, the foreman said jurors were deadlocked 11-1 on the murder charge but did not indicate which way they were leaning. Superior Court Judge John S. Einhorn ordered them to continue discussions after several jurors indicated that clarifying some legal terminology might help break the impasse.

Cravens was also charged with assault and other crimes dating back to 2005. Jurors convicted him of six counts, including assault, battery and making a criminal threat. He was acquitted of three counts of assault and battery.

Four other people were initially charged with murder but pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were sentenced in September to between 90 and 249 days in jail. They included Hank Hendricks, then a backup quarterback at the University of New Hampshire who was on summer break. The five defendants were buddies since attending La Jolla High School.

At the September sentencing, Einhorn chastised the defendants for spreading fear in the upscale seaside community of La Jolla with alcohol-tinged fights.

Prosecutors initially alleged that the “;Bird Rock Bandits”;—a name taken from a local area—was a gang, but Einhorn ruled that the defendants could not be prosecuted under anti-gang statutes because the group wasn't formed specifically to commit crimes.