A | LOS ANGELES -- By the time the scuba dive boat sank off the Southern California coast after catching fire, 34 people had been killed in the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history.The Labor Day tragedy in 2019 spurred changes to maritime regulations, congressional reform and civil lawsuits. Now four years later, a federal trial for the Conception's captain, Jerry Boylan, is set to begin Tuesday with jury selection in Los Angeles.It's been a long, frustrating wait for the families of those who perished. They say a judge's ruling that their loved ones should not be called “victims” at trial has only added to their pain. “The past four years have been like living in a nightmare that you don’t wake up from,” said Kathleen McIlvain, whose 44-year-old son Charles was killed. The 75-foot (23-meter) boat was anchored off the Channel Islands, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Santa Barbara, on Sept. 2, 2019, when it caught fire before dawn on the last day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 100 feet (30 meters) from shore. The National Transportation Safety Board blamed Boylan for the tragedy, saying his failure to post a roving night watchman allowed the fire to quickly spread undetected, trapping the 33 passengers and one crew member below. Those on board included a new deckhand who’d landed her dream job and an environmental scientist who did research in Antarctica, along with a globe-trotting couple, a Singaporean data scientist, three sisters, their father and his wife. U.S. District Judge George Wu on Oct. 12 granted Boylan's request to bar most if not all references to “victims” — which the captain's attorneys say is a prejudicial term that jeopardizes his right to a fair trial. It's the latest setback for the prosecution.A grand jury in 2020 initially indicted Boylan on 34 counts of a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as “seaman’s manslaughter” that was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters. Each count carries up to 10 years in prison in a conviction, for a total of 340 years.Defense lawyers sought to dismiss those charges, arguing the deaths were the result of a single incident and not separate crimes. Prosecutors got a superseding indictment charging Boylan with only one count.Then in 2022, Wu ruled the superseding indictment failed to specify that Boylan acted with gross negligence, saying that was a required element to prove the crime of seaman’s manslaughter. He dismissed that indictment, forcing prosecutors to go before a grand jury again.Boylan is now charged with one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer. The single count means he faces only 10 years behind bars if convicted.He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. His federal public defenders did not return The Associated Press' repeated requests for comment, and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment.Some of the dead were wearing shoes, prompting investigators to believe they were awake and trying to escape. Both exits from the below-deck bunkroom were blocked by flames. Coroner’s reports list smoke inhalation as the cause of death, though official autopsies were never conducted.What exactly started the predawn fire remains unknown. Early official scrutiny appeared to focus on a spot where divers plugged in phones and other electronics. But a Los Angeles Times story, citing a confidential report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the blaze began in a plastic trash can on the main deck though an official cause remains undetermined. Boylan and four crew members sleeping in the upper deck told investigators they tried to save the others but were ultimately forced to jump overboard to survive. Boylan made a mayday call at 3:14 a.m. just before abandoning ship.Dozens of family members have since formed “Advocacy34” to push for strengthened boating regulations. While seeking answers, they’ve comforted each other during loved ones’ missed birthdays and mourned each anniversary.“We have no idea when we’ll get those answers, or if we ever will,” McIlvain said.At the time of the fire, no owner, operator or charterer had been cited or fined for failure to post a roving patrol since 1991, Coast Guard records showed.The NTSB faulted the Coast Guard for not enforcing that requirement and recommended it develop a program to ensure boats with overnight passengers actually have the watchman.The Coast Guard has since enacted new regulations regarding fire detection systems, extinguishers, escape routes and other safety measures as mandated by Congress. But it has yet to implement a comprehensive safety management system after industry advocates pushed back, citing costs.Victims' families have sued the Coast Guard in one of several ongoing civil suits.Three days after the inferno, Truth Aquatics Inc., which belongs to the Conception’s owners, Glen and Dana Fritzler, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles under a pre-Civil War provision of maritime law that allows it to limit its liability to the remains of the boat, which was a total loss. The time-tested legal maneuver has been successfully employed by the owners of the Titanic and other vessels, and requires the Fritzlers show they were not at fault.The couple's attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.In response to the families' outcry, federal lawmakers last year updated the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851 so owners can be held liable for damages regardless of the boat’s value afterward. The law is not retroactive, however, and will not apply in the case of the Conception.。 정성호 법무장관 이임식서 밝혀 “개정 형소법 시행 잘 살펴야” 당부 정성호 법무부 장관이 26일 정부과천청사 법무부에서 열린 이임식에서 이임사를 마친 뒤 직원들에게 허리 숙여 인사하고 있다. 과천=윤웅 기자 정성호 법무부장관이 26일 이재명 대통령 사건 관련 공소취소 문제에 대해 “불법적 절차로 기소됐으면 검찰이 판단해야 할 문제”라고 말했다. 13개월간의 임기를 마친 정 장관은 국회로 돌아간다. 정 장관은 이날 정부과천청사에서 진행된 이임식을 마치고 기자들을 만나 “공소취소에 대한 부담으로 사의를 표명했다는 건 사실무근”이라며 이렇게 말했다. 정 장관은 “검찰 내부에서도 과거 잘못된 관행을 정리해야 한다는 자성의 목소리가 나온다”며 “검찰인권존중미래위원회(검찰미래위)가 수사 과정을 들여다보고 있으니 그 이후에 잘 논의해야 한다”고 덧붙였다. 검찰미래위가 선정한 조사 사건에 이 대통령 관련 사건이 다수 포함된 것에 대해서는 “윤석열 정권 하에서 이 대통령 관련 사건에 문제가 많았다”며 “국정조사 과정에서 무리한 수사가 있었다는 게 어느 정도 드러났고, 그걸 정리하는 차원”이라고 설명했다. 정 장관은 후임 장관에게는 “법무부가 국민 신뢰를 받을 수 있도록 분발해야 한다”며 “개정 형사소송법 시행 과정에서 국민이 불안하지 않고 피해자가 억울하지 않도록 수사 과정을 면밀히 살펴야 한다”고 당부했다. 정 장관은 앞서 진행된 이임식에서는 오는 10월 중대범죄수사청·공소청 출범, 개정 형사소송법 시행 등 형사사법제도의 변화를 앞두고 법무부의 역할을 당부했다. 그는 “형사사법제도는 국민의 일상을 더욱 안전하게 보호하고 공정한 절차를 통해 억울한 이가 없도록 하는 방향으로 발전해야 한다”며 “시행 전 예상되는 문제는 미리 보완책을 마련하고, 시행 후 드러나는 문제는 신속히 개선할 수 있도록 만전을 기해달라”고 강조했다. 정 장관은 지난해 7월 이재명정부 초대 법무부 장관으로 취임해 13개월간 법무부를 이끌었다. 론스타·쉰들러와의 국제투자분쟁(ISDS) 사건 승소, 교정시설 과밀화 문제 개선 등의 성과를 이뤘다. 이 기간 검찰청 폐지와 공소청·중수청 신설, 보완수사권을 포함해 검사의 수사권 완전 폐지를 골자로 하는 형사소송법 개정 등이 이뤄졌다. 。
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