Concept boat captain escapes prison sentence while appeals verdict
At this vigil, a community mourns the victims of the boat fire in Conception
On September 6, 2019, a vigil was held in Santa Barbara to commemorate the victims of the Conception boat fire, where people could mourn and show their support.
JUAN CARLO, VC Star
Jerry Boylan, the captain of the submersible Conception, will not be allowed to go to prison while he appeals his manslaughter conviction, a federal judge ruled last week.
The Conception caught fire while anchored off the island of Santa Cruz in 2019. All 33 passengers and one crew member died, while Boylan and four other crew members were saved by jumping overboard.
An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that Boylan and his crew had failed to follow basic safety measures, such as hiring a night watch. Last year, Boylan was convicted of a misdemeanor known in maritime law as “manslaughter of a seaman,” and in May he was sentenced to four years in a federal prison.
However, Boylan has not yet begun his sentence and it looks like he will remain free in the near future. Last week, U.S. District Judge George Wu ruled that Boylan can remain free on bail while he appeals the verdict.
Boylan’s lawyers have already filed an appeal, saying in court documents that they expect the appeals process to be complex and time-consuming, revolving around questions about jury instructions and their ability to select a lesser crime than the manslaughter of a sailor.
In his ruling on the bail issue, Wu wrote that Boylan could remain free pending appeal because if his appeal was successful, his conviction or sentence would most likely be overturned. Wu also ruled that Boylan was not a flight risk.
Prosecutors pushed to keep Boylan behind bars while he appeals, as did friends and relatives of the people who died aboard the Conception. Vicki Moore, the mother of Kendra Chan, who died along with her father, told The Star last month that the court had “shown absolutely no consideration for the impact of such a lengthy process on the families.”
Tony Biasotti is an investigative reporter and observer for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at [email protected]. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Local Journalism Fund.
