2023-11-07 02:44:21
LOS ANGELES – A federal jury found Monday that a dive boat captain committed criminal negligence in the deaths of 34 people in a fire aboard the vessel in 2019, the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles confirmed that Jerry Boylan was found guilty of one count of misconduct or negligence of a ship’s officer, a pre-Civil War statute known colloquially as seaman’s manslaughter. It was designed to hold steamship captains and crew members responsible for maritime disasters. Boylan was the only person to face criminal charges related to the fire.
He might spend 10 years behind bars once he is sentenced on February 8.
Relatives of the deceased hugged and cried outside the courtroom following the verdict was read. They thanked the FBI case agent who led the investigation.
The verdict comes more than four years following the tragedy of September 2, 2019, which led to changes in maritime regulations, congressional reforms and civil lawsuits.
The Concepción was anchored off the Channel Islands, 25 miles south of Santa Barbara, when it caught fire before dawn on the last day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 100 feet from shore.
A total of 33 passengers and one crew member died, trapped in a cabin below deck. Among the dead was the sailor, who had gotten his dream job; an environmental scientist who conducted research in Antarctica; a globetrotting couple; a data scientist from Singapore; and a family of three sisters, his father and his wife.
Boylan was the first to abandon ship and jump overboard. Four crew members who joined him also survived.
Although the exact cause of the fire remains undetermined, prosecutors and the defense attempted to identify culprits throughout the trial.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Boylan failed to post the required roving night watch and never adequately trained his team in firefighting. The lack of roving surveillance meant the fire was able to spread undetected along the 75-foot ship.
Boylan’s attorneys attempted to place the blame on the boat’s owner, Glen Fritzler, who with his wife owns Truth Aquatics Inc., which operated the Concepcion and two other dive boats.
They argued that Fritzler was responsible for failing to train the crew in firefighting and other safety measures, as well as creating a lax maritime culture they called “the Fritzler way,” in which no captain working for him performed a roving watch.
Between two and three dozen relatives of the victims attended each day of the trial in downtown Los Angeles. U.S. District Court Judge George Wu warned them not to show emotion in the courtroom as they watched a 24-second cellphone video showing some of their loved ones’ last moments.
While the criminal trial has ended, several civil lawsuits remain ongoing.
Three days following the fire, Truth Aquatics filed suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles under a pre-Civil War maritime law provision that allows it to limit its liability to the value of the ship’s wreckage, which It was a total loss. The time-tested legal maneuver has been used successfully by the owners of the Titanic and other ships and requires the Fritzlers to prove they were not at fault.
That case is pending, as are others filed by victims’ families once morest the Coast Guard for alleged lax application of the roving surveillance requirement.
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