A defense attorney admits his client is guilty, just not of the felony charge that prosecutors are seeking in a fatal hit-and-run.

The trial of Joshua Walton started Monday in Douglas County District Court. Walton, 25, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Sept. 23, 2006, crash that killed Kansas University student Ryan Kanost, 22.

Tom Bath, Walton’s attorney, admitted that Walton was responsible for Kanost’s death, but he said prosecutors have sought too serious a charge. He recommended a guilty verdict of the lesser misdemeanor vehicular homicide, which means Walton drove in a “grossly negligent manner.”

“Witnesses will tell you he was speeding and struck a pedestrian. It’s that crime he’s violating,” Bath said. “We believe evidence will not be proven he committed the crime of involuntary manslaughter.”

Involuntary manslaughter carries a much stiffer penalty of at least three years and two months in prison, compared with at most a year in jail for the misdemeanor.

Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson told jurors that witnesses would detail how much alcohol Walton drank throughout that night. Branson also said Walton declined a ride home from a friend.

Kanost was struck by a northbound car around 1 a.m. while crossing Kentucky Street at 13th Street with friends. Branson said Walton drove off and met friends, telling them he believed he struck something but didn’t know what it was.

Walton reported to the Lawrence police station the next day after his friends saw news coverage that someone had been struck and killed by a car in the Oread Neighborhood.

“The defendant made a choice to drive that night, and because he made that choice, someone is dead,” Branson said.

Most of the testimony Monday focused on how police officers responded to the accident and examined Walton’s silver Toyota Camry the next day. Pictures show the car sustained severe damage to the right front fender, and Detective Randy Glidewell testified he collected bodily tissue that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation tested and confirmed came from Kanost’s body.

Police also said that when Walton voluntarily submitted to an interview with police the next day, he said he thought he had grabbed another person’s drink at the bar by mistake “because he blacked out, went into a delusional rage” and then drove himself home although he didn’t remember anything about the drive, police officer Casey Cooper testified.

Prosecutors charged Walton with involuntary manslaughter, or unintentionally killing Kanost while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A conviction carries a sentence from 38 months to 172 months in prison. He also faces a misdemeanor count for leaving the scene of an accident.

But Bath is seeking a conviction of misdemeanor vehicular homicide, which is the unintentional killing of someone while driving in a manner that creates unreasonable risk of injury. The maximum penalty for a conviction is 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Walton is free on $25,000 bond, and the trial – expected to last several days – continues at 9 a.m. today.