In regard to criminally charging vessel operators following an accident, I do recall some reluctance in the marine enforcement community to do that in cases where tragedy occurred within the family aboard the boat, especially absent truly reckless (vs merely careless) behavior, such as Boating Under the Influence. The feeling was that the family was in enough pain...why pile on?
As to the specific charge of operating an overloaded vessel, gathering the elements required to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt could be harder than one might think - everyone and everything aboard would have to be accurately weighed and tallied up. Defense attorney could object if the weighing wasn't done at the accident scene using a traceable certified scale - equipment not readily available to marine crash investigators.
In regard to criminally charging vessel operators following an accident, I do recall some reluctance in the marine enforcement community to do that in cases where tragedy occurred within the family aboard the boat, especially absent truly reckless (vs merely careless) behavior, such as Boating Under the Influence. The feeling was that the family was in enough pain...why pile on?
As to the specific charge of operating an overloaded vessel, gathering the elements required to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt could be harder than one might think - everyone and everything aboard would have to be accurately weighed and tallied up. Defense attorney could object if the weighing wasn't done at the accident scene using a traceable certified scale - equipment not readily available to marine crash investigators.
Mixture of mercy and evidentiary challenges--you nailed it.