Suit filed in case of "Girl dead, boy injured at Glacier National Park

[Seaweed Doc]

Here are pertinent excerpts from the transcript of the NPS ISB's interview of the Instructor. This transcript was produced by the NPS in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

INTERVIEW WITH DEBBIE SNOW
11-18-20/10:48 am
Case # NP20154473


1475
1476 Q1: So, I - I’ll just tell you and this is just - I can’t give you legal advice but what I
1477 will say is I would personally I would not work with PADI’s investigator. But
1478 you being certified with PADI you want to keep that rating...
1479

Wow. Just wow. I don't like to swear so I'll leave it at that. "I can't give legal advice, but here's some legal advice."

I can understand a law enforcement officer advising a victim or witness on something like this under limited circumstances. But with a dive accident, the instructor/DM should be a target of the investigation even if just to rule out instructor error.

I can understand being advised by legal counsel not to talk to an investigator. But that should come from my very own attorney, not PADI's, not the NPS, not the dive shop's. They're the ones that can slice and dice the contracts and so on and determine who I have to talk to, and they're the only ones specifically hired to protect MY interests.

I'm scratching my head about the dive computer issue. I'm thinking of starting another thread I think on the lines of "what should be done with dive equipment following an accident?"

Subfiend, in this case was the computer owned by Linnea Mills? Not a rental from the shop? Apologies in advance if I missed that answer in the filings.

 

[crofrog]

What kind of computer did she have does anyone known?

 

[Subfiend]

What kind of computer did she have does anyone known?

Linnea had a Subgear XP10, rented from Gull Dive. It is downloadable if you have the download kit, which was back at the shop. This is one of my favorite pieces of evidence, a text message from the instructor to a dive shop employee on December 20, 2020 asking him to check to see if the owner's manual and download kit are at the shop because "The attorney wants me to send them to him." By this time, the dive computers were in California, not with the NPS investigators.

 

[Subfiend]

One of the hardest things to grapple with in this case is the Secret Service-level incompetence of the federal authorities. The higher up the chain you go, the worse it gets. For example, the letter from the AUSA to the NPS declining to prosecute says they are declining to do so because they cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the instructor knowingly engaged in conduct that created a serious risk of death or bodily injury to another. Well, why was that? Maybe because the NPS investigators did not look for this evidence? Maybe because the NPS investigators' report, which was never produced, failed to consider or explain evidence that would have shown the AUSA that she could, in fact, meet this evidentiary burden? Or maybe it was because the only evidence they actually considered on this point was what the instructor told them, which was that she did not know what went wrong, so how could she have knowingly engaged in such conduct?

I know one thing: The investigator at Glacier National Park who was initially in charge of the investigation was doing all the right things and talking to all the right people, but he was taken off the case as soon as the ISB investigators arrived. One of the people he was talking to was the law enforcement investigator who had investigated the remarkably similar death of Sig SIgerson in 2012. This investigator is a member of the NPS National Diving Control Board, and he knew exactly what evidence to look for and who to ask for help. The ISB investigators ghosted him. They cut off all communication. So, you had two ISB investigators and their supervisor, who knew nothing or next to nothing about scuba diving, conducting a cursory investigation and ignoring outside help from the exact people who exist within the NPS to conduct diving accident investigations, and this is who the AUSA is relying upon to make their decision about whether to prosecute.

 

[jellycatsdad]

WTF! A ******* law enforcement officer giving the perp advice. How much more corrupt can this be?

It sounds like Oakland or Chicago-level corruption there.

 

[jellycatsdad]

I'm not the biggest fan of DT, but they have the exclusive. An interview with Bob Gentry, his wife Shannon, Lisa Mills, and David.


YT Link

They largely let the guests talk, so it is watchable.

I was watching both of these today. My heart goes out to Bob and I’m left to wonder why PADI and Debbie Snow haven’t faced any consequences besides a slap on the wrist. But from the lawyer in the second video, the ball was dropped and he’s blackballed in the dive community.

My instructor had a few of us over and we did the Human Diver’s course about that rebreather diver who died and I was drawing comparison to that. But my alarm bells were going off in the first video when Bob did the play by play leading up to Linnea’s demise.

 

[Subfiend]

Here is the prosecutor's letter declining to prosecute. I colored over the names of the sender and recipient. I don't know why.

 

[Wheeler925]

Here is the prosecutor's letter declining to prosecute. I colored over the names of the sender and recipient. I don't know why.

Thanks for this.. Says a lot. I want to add in response to that, besides the zipper(would it have zipped - regardless if it actually WAS), there doesn't seem to be evidence that the drysuit wasn't functioning properly - but rather that the drysuit wasn't properly used (having the correct inflator hose and training). I'm not trying to be judgemental about anything, this case is horrilbe.. just trying to parse the facts to assign blame correctly in my own mind.

 

[Subfiend]

Thanks for this.. Says a lot. I want to add in response to that, besides the zipper(would it have zipped - regardless if it actually WAS), there doesn't seem to be evidence that the drysuit wasn't functioning properly - but rather that the drysuit wasn't properly used (having the correct inflator hose and training). I'm not trying to be judgemental about anything, this case is horrilbe.. just trying to parse the facts to assign blame correctly in my own mind.

This is a fair statement. The dry suit was old(ish) and unused for a while. The zipper definitely needed to be lubricated and maybe replaced. (It wasn’t clear why it would not close all the way, and the parties at the inspection agreed not to try to force it and alter its condition.) The suit was too big for Linnea, and the connector was not compatible with the regulator rented from Gull Dive. All of these issues could have been noticed and addressed in a pool session before the open water dive, or even at the shop in Missoula if the suit had been inspected when the group assembled there before the drive up to Glacier.

This brings me back to the AUSA’s statement that she could not bring charges for negligent homicide because she cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the instructor knowingly engaged in conduct that created a serious risk of death or bodily injury to another. She just wasn’t trying hard enough to look at the evidence. She probably put more effort into deciding whether to put sugar or Splenda into her coffee that morning.

 

[Wheeler925]

This brings me back to the AUSA’s statement that she could not bring charges for negligent homicide because she cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the instructor knowingly engaged in conduct that created a serious risk of death or bodily injury to another. She just wasn’t trying hard enough to look at the evidence. She probably put more effort into deciding whether to put sugar or Splenda into her coffee that morning.

Yeah. I'm somewhat on the fence about if Snow should have been charged or not. It just makes me super glad I've had competent and safety oriented instructors in the classes I've taken, who aren't afraid to bounce someone from the classes.