Florida BUI Boater Found Guilty of Killing Three
A great post at BoatTest.com covers the investigation into a 2009 small boat collision in which three people were killed and the operator of the offending vessel was found to be intoxicated. “>In the post is a verbatim transcript with photos from a Tiger Team investigator as provided to both the USCG Office of Boating Safety and the jury who decided the case this week. The investigator’s narrative is in depth and covers all elements of the collision, ultimately concluding six Inland Navigation Rules were violated by the offending boater, who is determined to have caused the collision. Reading this report illustrates the amount of rules that have to be followed, and enforced, on the water to prevent similar tragedies.
An Okaloosa County, Florida jury found Augusta Frederick Kennedy guilty last Thursday of three counts of BUI (Boating Under the Influence) manslaughter. No sentencing date has been set, because he still faces 5 misdemeanor charges related to the crash. Authorities say Kennedy’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit on September 4, 2009 when he crashed his boat into another vessel carrying four people, three of whom were killed. The three people killed were the mother, father, and aunt of the skipper of a 20′ center console.
The USCG “Tiger Team” investigator, Augusto (Kiko) Villalon, made a full report of the accident for the Coast Guard’s Office of Boating Safety. This report was also given the jury which spent less than two hours coming to a guilty verdict on three counts of manslaughter.
