In this boating-rescue death, which was the only one of its' kind ever in the US where a rescue boat mishap caused the death, the prosecutor who decided not to prosecute it as a crime is a municipal employee who is from the same municipality as the rescuers. The phrase 'same church - different pew' can be accurately applied here.
No one believes that the boat operators-rescuers were acting with criminal intent in their thoughts, at the time. They were trying to do their job and make a successfull rescue.
The civil side of this accidental death is another matter. Will the family of the deceased file an accidental death claim due to inexperience, operator error, and a boat too small for its' mission against the fiscally well-dressed municipality which carries a large liability insurance policy? If you were to be the deceased, would you want your family to collect a money payment for your accidental death?
The woman who drowned while strapped into a Stokes litter that was tied to the bow area only had a sprained ankle, and she was drowned which is a relatively slow and chokingly painfull way-to-go. (Ugh-ugh-ugh....I can't breath and I'm quickly gagging water out-of-control, and choking and am all tied into this steel stretcher.........very nice!)
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Today's March 1
www.cmonitor.com has a lengthy and detailed article that takes a legal look at this Connecticut River air-boat, rescue-drowning tragedy.
Sorry Skip, but I was trying to create an accurate self-description of what it's like to drown. Is this appropriate for a boater's forum? I think so.