Rob Murphy's Day in Court

[dumpsterDiver]

I personally knowl the people on the victim's boat. They did everything conceivable to protect themselves from the Doctor who deliberately went around the boat when it performed a blocking maneuver and drove directly over the divers at a high rate of speed. They were flying the appropriate dive flags. The capt of the private dive boat is extremely competant and has many thousands of DAYS offshore, much of it diving.

The doctor defintely saw the multiple dive flags, but saw that there were several people on the boat and apparently decided that he was going to steal the GPS coordinate where they were diving by driving over the location (he is a diver too). He was looking down, presumably at his depth recorder to see what they were diving on and to press the ENTER button on the GPS when he ran over Rob.

He absolutely saw what he had done, he never identified himself, never offered to render aid and took off from the scene and had a lawyer meet him at the dock when he was apprehended by authorities. It is my understanding that he also attempted to delete his gps log/route on the way in.

The story is totally and completely unbelievable. If I did not know the people involved and had not dove a total of probably 400 times personally with them, I would not believe the story, at all.

Probably the most hard to accept fact associated with this case is that the doctor is only charged with a second degree misdemeanor.

 

[mike_s]

a few news articles that came out after yesterdays court testimony

Here's an update from Spearboard. (removing the posters names as that board is not searchable and don't want to bring any issue over here. The posts area all about public news stories, so I'm not re-posting someones opinion).

Here is the Channel 5 WPTV coverage:

WATCH THE TV 5 VIDEO HERE:

Injured diver testifies in trial against boater who hit him

STUART, Fla. - More than 18 months after a boat severed his legs, diver Rob Murphy explained to a Martin County court in chilling detail, the moments before he was hit.

"I saw the giant brass propeller five feet or less away and all I could do was try to roll away and get away from him," he told the court, testifying from his wheelchair.

His diving partner Lisa Rollins was swimming 15 feet below while Murphy was floating on the surface. She watched the collision.

"The boat came crashing into him. I never saw it motoring over, it was top speed," she testified.

Diver Barry Blackwell says the boat grazed him, too.

"It was 20 to 25 feet away when it turned literally dead at Rob Murphy and myself," he said.

The defendant, ER doctor Roger Nicosia, told investigators he swerved to avoid the divers' boat which was moving toward him. He said he had no idea there were divers in the water.

Prosecutors played an audio recording of an interview Nicosia did with state investigators immediately following the January 2009 crash.

"Did you see any dive flags on the vessel or did you see a dive flag in the water?" asked the investigator. "No," replied Nicosia.

The defense pointed out the divers' boat did have a red dive flag, but argued it was improperly posted, and partially obscured and that the divers themselves did not have flags in the water.

But state investigators testified Nicosia should have slowed down when he approached the boat and done more to avoid a collision.

Dr. Nicosia is expected to testify in his own defense when the trial resumes Wednesday.

The charges against him: violation of navigational rights - a second degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum $500 fine and 60 days in jail.

Nicosia is also the defendant in a civil case associated with this crash.

Here is the Channel 25 Coverage.

Watch the TV 25 Video Here:

Doctor On Trial In Boating Accident That Took Man's Legs - West Palm Beach News Story - WPBF West Palm Beach

STUART, Fla. -- An emergency room doctor is on trial, accused in a boating accident that caused a man to lose his legs.

The non-jury trial for Roger Nicosia was taking place Tuesday at the Martin County courthouse.

A Martin County judge will decide if Nicosia violated U.S. Coast Guard navigational rules last year after his boat's propeller severed Rob Murphy's legs.

In January 2009, Murphy was diving and spear fishing with friends in the Atlantic Ocean, nearly five miles east of the St. Lucie inlet. Moments after Murphy surfaced, the boat's propeller struck him and severed his legs below the knee.


If Nicosia is convicted of the second-degree misdemeanor, he could face up to two months in jail and a $500 fine.

Murphy testified in court that there was a dive flag near the boat, but Nicosia still came in his direction.

The trial was expected to conclude later Tuesday or Wednesday.

Another article: Doctor On Trial In Boating Accident That Took Man's Legs - Local News - W. Palm Beach, FL - News - msnbc.com


Legs
Judge To Decide If Doctor Violated Navigational Rules



STUART, Fla. — WPBF.com

An emergency room doctor is on trial, accused in a boating accident that caused a man to lose his legs.

The non-jury trial for Roger Nicosia was taking place Tuesday at the Martin County courthouse.

A Martin County judge will decide if Nicosia violated U.S. Coast Guard navigational rules last year after his boat's propeller severed Rob Murphy's legs.

In January 2009, Murphy was diving and spear fishing with friends in the Atlantic Ocean, nearly five miles east of the St. Lucie inlet. Moments after Murphy surfaced, the boat's propeller struck him and severed his legs below the knee.

If Nicosia is convicted of the second-degree misdemeanor, he could face up to two months in jail and a $500 fine.

Murphy testified in court that there was a dive flag near the boat, but Nicosia still came in his direction.

The trial was expected to conclude Wednesday.

Another article: Roger Nicosia: Doctor whose boat severed Palm Beach Gardens diver's legs faces trial - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Witness: Doctor's boat bore down on Palm Beach Gardens scuba diver
Diver Robert Murphy lost both his legs when they were severed by boat propeller

STUART —

The sound of Michael Newman's voice yelling "mayday, mayday" was too much for Robert Murphy to take.

Murphy had sat through Newman's testimony, at times leaning to one side of his wheelchair to wipe his tears, as his friend testified about the Jan. 9, 2009, boating accident that severed Murphy's legs.

But there was something overwhelming about Newman's terrified voice echoing through a Martin County courtroom on Tuesday as prosecutors replayed the distress call he made trying to get help for the 27-year-old Palm Beach Gardens man.

Murphy, his eyes wet with fresh tears, quickly rolled out of the courtroom and away from Dr. Roger Nicosia.

Nicosia, a 58-year-old Martin Memorial Hospital emergency room doctor, is on trial on misdemeanor charges that he violated five navigational rules, leading him to plow into Murphy while he and two other divers were spear fishing about 4 miles north of the St. Lucie Inlet.

Martin County Judge Kathleen Roberts could sentence Nicosia to 60 days in jail and order him to pay a $500 fine if she convicts him of the charges at the center of the nonjury trial expected to end on Wednesday.

"My interpretation is that he was trying to get to where he was going and he didn't care what was in his way," Murphy testified of Nicosia on Tuesday.

Assistant State Attorney Nirlaine Smartt told Roberts in opening statements that Nicosia failed to follow several basic boating rules of speed and caution.

Nicosia's attorney, Bob Watson, called it an unfortunate accident but argued that the boat Murphy and his friends dove from failed to properly display dive flags that would have warned Nicosia to stay away.

Ted and Stephen Shemella, who were on The Master Plan with Nicosia, testified on his behalf on Tuesday that they didn't see the dive flags on the Dykoke until a split second before they hit Murphy.

Most of the day's testimony came from Murphy and his friends, who recounted with horrific detail how they watched Nicosia's boat bear down on Murphy.

Moments later, they testified, they swam through bloody waters to bring Murphy to safety as they watched his detached legs float through the water.

 

[Jax]

Disclaimer - I've not been following this as closely as others, but . . .


It seems to me that this doctor has managed to skate on a lot of responsibility due to some technicalites - "improperly displayed dive flag", "divers not towing flags" . . .

No matter how you feel about this case, I hope you realize that the guy will skate with minimum punishment due to someone following requirements half-hazardly. Would the flags have made a different? Elephino. However, the flags might have gotten this guy put away and sent a message to the rest of the boating community.

It's a freakin' nightmare when this stuff happens; exacerabating it with our own carelessness is torture.

 

[The Chairman]

The courtroom was completely filled yesterday. I would love to hear from a witness in that Court Room. I do know that the prosecutors did not even introduce any dive flags into evidence and that Tony Grogan bought some and brought them to them. Hopefully, they will make it into the procedures at some point.

 

[The Chairman]

Disclaimer - I've not been following this as closely as others, but . . .


It seems to me that this doctor has managed to skate on a lot of responsibility due to some technicalites - "improperly displayed dive flag", "divers not towing flags" . . .

No matter how you feel about this case, I hope you realize that the guy will skate with minimum punishment due to someone following requirements half-hazardly. Would the flags have made a different? Elephino. However, the flags might have gotten this guy put away and sent a message to the rest of the boating community.

It's a freakin' nightmare when this stuff happens; exacerabating it with our own carelessness is torture.

I think this is a defense red herring. From what I have heard from those there, Rob was within 100ft of the dive boat when the accident happened. Boats underway are required to stay 300' away from these flags. Perhaps the fines/charges should be increased when an injury or fatality is the result.

The take away for boaters is: When you find yourself too close to a Dive Flag (<300 ft), your IMMEDIATE response should be to kill the engines and assess the situation. You should then leave the area S-L-O-W-L-Y (under steerage) in order to preserve life and limb.

 

[DandyDon]

The charges against him: violation of navigational rights - a second degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum $500 fine and 60 days in jail.

Just sucks. Should be the same as DUI negligence punishment.

 

[Jax]

I agree completely with you guys, but it seems that many other charges could've come into play, and they did not . . . one must conclude there was sufficient 'oops' on the victim's boat's part to have caused the prosecuters to not persue serious charges.

 

[Hetland]

I agree completely with you guys, but it seems that many other charges could've come into play, and they did not . . . one must conclude there was sufficient 'oops' on the victim's boat's part to have caused the prosecuters to not persue serious charges.

"Intent" is almost always an element of an assault charge.

784.011 Assault.--

(1) An "assault" is an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent.

784.03 Battery; felony battery.--

(1)(a) The offense of battery occurs when a person:

1. Actually and intentionally touches or strikes another person against the will of the other; or

2. Intentionally causes bodily harm to another person.

784.05 Culpable negligence.--

(1) Whoever, through culpable negligence, exposes another person to personal injury commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(2) Whoever, through culpable negligence, inflicts actual personal injury on another commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

If I verbally state I'm going to run you over with my boat, then you can prove my intent. If I shoot you six times in the leg, reload, and shoot you six times in the other leg, then you can guess my intent, and probably convince a jury of the same.

No one can prove the doc intended to hit the diver (unless I missed something somewhere). They should be able to prove negligence without breaking a sweat, especially if the guy was a diver. He can't claim he didn't know what a dive flag is.

Not saying the guy shouldn't be raked over the coals, just saying that I doubt there is a criminal law that will do it with the facts and circumstances available. (I'm not an attorney, and don't know much about Florida state law).

 

[Hetland]

How many divers in Florida? You can't tell me you guys can't twist some arms in Tallahassee and get some laws passed protecting divers.

You probably won't beat the rec. boaters for required licenses, but I'd bet you could get someting passed specifically protecting divers or dive boats.

Now is the time to do it, when the press is already paying attention.

Why don't we (divers) have a lobby group? We spend an @$$-load of money on our sport, and I for one would spend a few extra bucks each year buying steaks and golf trips for politicians in order to have my voice heard...

 

[Jax]

How many divers in Florida? You can't tell me you guys can't twist some arms in Tallahassee and get some laws passed protecting divers.

You probably won't beat the rec. boaters for required licenses, but I'd bet you could get someting passed specifically protecting divers or dive boats.

Now is the time to do it, when the press is already paying attention.

Why don't we (divers) have a lobby group? We spend an @$$-load of money on our sport, and I for one would spend a few extra bucks each year buying steaks and golf trips for politicians in order to have my voice heard...

You're obviously a person educated in the ways of lobbists and politicians; most of the community is not.