Summary
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Jerry Nehl Boylan’s conviction for seaman’s manslaughter under 18 U.S.C. § 1115 arising from the 2019 fire aboard the M.V. Conception that killed 34 people. The court held that § 1115 requires negligence, not gross negligence, and concluded that any instructional error arising from the use of “misconduct” was harmless. Judge Koh concurred in the judgment but disagreed with relying on the district court’s framing of the case and the prosecution’s closing arguments to establish harmlessness.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether 18 U.S.C. § 1115 requires proof of gross negligence rather than ordinary negligence.
- Whether any error in instructing the jury that guilt could follow from misconduct and/or gross negligence required reversal.
- Whether the law-of-the-case doctrine or waiver barred review of the culpability issue.
Holdings
- Section 1115 does not require gross negligence; negligence is sufficient to establish the culpability component of seaman's manslaughter.
- Any error resulting from the instruction's use of misconduct was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Neither the law-of-the-case doctrine nor waiver precluded the Ninth Circuit from reviewing the culpability issue.
Key quotations
“Accordingly, we follow the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits and hold that § 1115 does not require gross negligence.” (14)
“Because the district court’s instruction held the government to a higher standard than what § 1115 requires, and the evidence of gross negligence was overwhelming, there was no reversible error.” (15)
“We all agree that the alleged error of including “misconduct” in the jury instructions was harmless because the evidence in this case is overwhelming.” (19)
Factual background
On August 31, 2019, the M.V. Conception departed for a three-day scuba-diving trip with Captain Boylan, five crew members, and thirty-three passengers. Boylan did not train his inexperienced crew in fire-safety procedures, and no crew member was assigned to the required roving patrol while passengers slept. When a fire broke out below deck on September 2, 2019, Boylan failed to warn those below, failed to organize effective firefighting efforts, and abandoned ship; all thirty-four people below deck died from smoke inhalation and asphyxiation.
Procedural history
A first superseding indictment charged Boylan under § 1115, but the district court dismissed it for failing to allege gross negligence. The government obtained a second superseding indictment alleging gross negligence. After a ten-day jury trial, Boylan was convicted and sentenced to four years' imprisonment. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction, addressing the culpability instruction in this published opinion and other appellate issues in a concurrently filed memorandum disposition.