Scuba assault investigation - Hawaii

[Dr. Lecter]

It is very funny for an european: you guys in the US can relate any action to assault, crime and lawyers............................:blinking:. You are getting hot on a MAUI instructor that was in life danger because she had lost her primary regulator at 25 feet...............give me a break. Please be aware that I am not saying that the fisherman did behave correctly. But to talk about assault and endangered life

If you think inadvertently losing and retrieving your reg underwater, and having it ripped from your face by another diver who just charged and attacked you, are the same thing in terms of risk of panic/drowning...you're an idiot. Normally, if you lose a reg, its prompt and calm retrieval is the first thing in your mind - if you're dealing with another diver who just attacked you and is still in your face with uncertain but demonstrably aggressive intentions…one might be forgiven for not thinking of the reg first.

This is very simple: if you've done something to another diver such that they would legally be within their rights to kill you on the spot in self defense, you've committed a crime and a civil wrong. Here, she would have been.

 

[NAM001]

I an sure that Sea Shepard has got representation. All members have probbly been trained by them where the legal line is and how to stalk and provolk a reaction fro a target with out crossing that line too far.

I'm surprised they couldn't come up with a more appropriate and less stupidly named charge than "terroristic threatening", but it's interesting to see the only charge to come out of this was as predicted: against the aggressive idiot, not against someone allegedly "disrupting" a recreational activity conducted in public waters by merely filming it.

And while Hawaii criminal law might have this odd quirk that requires injury to the victim for an assault charge--I suppose that means I commit no crime if I charge someone with a knife, grab them by the collar, and try to stab them, so long as I don't actually cut them?--I know for a fact that Hawaii tort law has no such limitations. I imagine Sea Shepard already has a lawyer on retainer for this one, and the civil suit will be hilarious to watch.

 

[gypsyjim]

As I see it, the actions of both parties should be judged separately.

If the woman WAS harassing and/or trying to provoke a response, so be it, and let the police place charges accordingly. If what she was doing is against the law, charge her, and if convicted, sentence her to whatever the appropriate penalty for such crime is.

The attack by the one male diver on the woman also must be judged as a separate action. What the video appears to show is an violent attack on one dive by another, who was in no way a physical threat to the first. That would appear to make it an assault, and since it also involved the removal of a vital life support system from the mouth of the second diver, it indicates a depraved lack of concern for the life and health of that second diver.

Left a judge(s) and a jury(ies) settle this, by addressing each crime in turn, separately.

 

[TheRealScubaSteve]

It's a hard incident to judge as there are too many questions of what led up to the event. I can say, though, that lingering too long to retrieve a regulator or look for an alternate does not necessarily mean she was calm and the event was staged. I couldn't imagine how I'd react to such an incident not having been there before. Would my first thought be to retrieve the lifeline (air source) or would I think that the more immediate threat would be the aggressive diver. In such a situation, she may have been anticipating having to fend off an attacker - which may be more pressing than looking for a reg (assuming she had a full breath).

 

[Scared Silly]

If the woman WAS harassing and/or trying to provoke a response, so be it, and let the police place charges accordingly. If what she was doing is against the law, charge her, and if convicted, sentence her to whatever the appropriate penalty for such crime is.

There are no statutes in Hawaii that pertain to her actions. This has been debunked ad nauseum.

 

[gypsyjim]

There are no statutes in Hawaii that pertain to her actions. This has been debunked ad nauseum.

Please note that I said "IF what she was doing was against the law...".
Note that I highlighted it this time so you can't miss it. (unless you choose too)

 

[Dr. Lecter]

There are no statutes in Hawaii that pertain to her actions. This has been debunked ad nauseum.

Not quite true. The fisherman harassment statute definitely does't apply to her because it's for freshwater, but there's also a general harassment statute that theoretically could apply…however, the facts just aren't severe enough from what we know now to say she violated it.

 

[Freewillow]

If you think inadvertently losing and retrieving your reg underwater, and having it ripped from your face by another diver who just charged and attacked you, are the same thing in terms of risk of panic/drowning...you're an idiot. Normally, if you lose a reg, its prompt and calm retrieval is the first thing in your mind - if you're dealing with another diver who just attacked you and is still in your face with uncertain but demonstrably aggressive intentions…one might be forgiven for not thinking of the reg first.

This is very simple: if you've done something to another diver such that they would legally be within their rights to kill you on the spot in self defense, you've committed a crime and a civil wrong. Here, she would have been.

Maybe I am, as you say, an idiot. But for sure YOU are funny.

 

[harmonised]

WoW!, Just WoW! I am not going to single anyone out, but I can't believe that there are people on this thread that are not taking the woman's side on this case. Legal or not, her actions did not justify him pulling off her regulator.

 

[Joe Underwater]

WoW!, Just WoW! I am not going to single anyone out, but I can't believe that there are people on this thread that are not taking the woman's side on this case. Legal or not, her actions did not justify him pulling off her regulator.

I'm with you, harmonised.