titantoo
04-22-2005, 10:04 PM
April 23, 2005
Manager Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in 2003 Ferry Crash
By SEWELL CHAN (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=SEWELL%20CHAN&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=SEWELL%20CHAN&inline=nyt-per)
The highest-ranking city official charged in the crash that killed 11 passengers on a Staten Island ferry in 2003 pleaded guilty yesterday to negligent manslaughter, admitting that he failed to ensure the safe operation of the system and lied to investigators after the disaster.
The plea by Patrick Ryan, 53, who was hired as a deckhand in 1979 and rose to director of operations of the second busiest ferry system in the United States, after Washington State's, came 10 days before he was to have gone on trial on 11 counts of seaman's manslaughter. In a plea agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to only one of those counts, and is expected to be sentenced to up to a year in prison.
Prosecutors contended that the managerial failings of Mr. Ryan, who was not on the vessel, made him just as blameworthy as anyone who was on it. It also represented a major setback for the city, which financed Mr. Ryan's legal defense and faces a mountain of civil lawsuits filed in connection with the crash: 191 claims totaling more than $3.3 billion, according to the city comptroller's office. As of yesterday, 79 had been settled for a total of $2.7 million, none involving the passengers who died.
A second former official - Mr. Ryan's brother-in-law, John Mauldin - also accepted responsibility yesterday for the crash. Mr. Mauldin, 46, who was one of two port captains helping to oversee ferry operations, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to the National Transportation Safety Board. Mr. Ryan and Mr. Mauldin resigned their positions before their pleas.
The authorities charged Mr. Ryan, who was suspended with pay after he was indicted last July, under an obscure federal statute that dates to 1838. The law can be used to prosecute a ship's officers, as well as executives in the corporation that owns the vessel, in this case the City of New York, for negligence or recklessness that leads to death at sea. So rare are prosecutions under the statute that even experts in admiralty and maritime law had difficulty yesterday recalling modern precedents.
"This is a rare case indeed," said James F. Moseley Jr., a lawyer in Jacksonville, Fla., who is chairman of the Criminal Law Committee of the Maritime Law Association of the United States. "Most of the cases were in the early 19th century or prior to World War I."
The case, which was prosecuted by the office of the United States attorney in Brooklyn, centered on a so-called two-pilot rule that requires two employees capable of navigating the ferry to be in the wheelhouse while the ferry is in operation.
Only one person, Assistant Captain Richard J. Smith, was at the controls of the Andrew J. Barberi on the afternoon of Oct. 15, 2003. He lost consciousness moments before the vessel, cruising at full speed, hit a maintenance pier near the St. George terminal.
Mr. Ryan, who wore a blue suit jacket, a maroon tie and brown trousers, was composed but somber as he appeared before Chief Judge Edward R. Korman in Federal District Court in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon.
As the director of ferry operations, Mr. Ryan drafted a series of standard operating procedures in 2002 that confirmed the existence of the two-pilot rule. He acknowledged however, that he never distributed the procedures, trained his staff in their use or made sure the two-pilot rule was followed.
"I didn't get them out the right way," he said. "I didn't train people in it. I didn't instruct people in it. I didn't disseminate it in the right way. You ask me why, your honor? I have searched my soul and heart wide and I can't tell you why."
Mr. Ryan admitted that he lied on June 3, 2004, when he told Coast Guard investigators that when he was a captain, he followed the two-pilot rule and stayed with his assistant captain in the pilothouse nearly all the time, even in good weather. In fact, he said, he adhered to the rule mainly in bad weather.
"His executive or managerial negligence was a cause of the crash," the lead prosecutor, Andrew J. Frisch, said during the hearing. Mr. Ryan and his defense lawyer, Thomas Fitzpatrick, did not comment afterward. The city's corporation counsel, Michael A. Cardozo, said in a statement that the guilty plea "does not change the city's belief that the city was not negligent in the operation of the Staten Island ferry, and that its overall liability for the tragic accident is limited."
Several relatives of the deceased sobbed as they listened to the proceedings. Afterward, they said they were disappointed to learn that Mr. Ryan might not spend multiple years in prison.
Debra Canini, who lost her husband, Pio, said she believed Mr. Ryan should spend "the rest of his life" in prison. Michelle Ferrante, whose son Vincent Ferrante Jr. was killed, said she had hoped for a more detailed explanation of Mr. Ryan's failings.
"What I wanted him to say was exactly how that ferry was run on a day-to-day basis," she said. "They get up, they say they're guilty and they don't have to explain. They were playing Russian roulette with everyone's lives, for years and years."
Several people said they believed that Iris Weinshall, the commissioner of the Department of Transportation since 2000, should also be held responsible.
"There's blame for everybody, from the deckhand all the way up to Iris Weinshall," said Kathleen Healy, a mother of four whose husband, John, was killed. "That is why I'm unsatisfied. This is her department."
Mrs. Healy added: "Smith fell asleep behind the wheel. She fell asleep behind her desk."
In a statement, Ms. Weinshall, who is the wife of Senator Charles E. Schumer , cited a list of changes introduced since the disaster, including the hiring of more staff and the purchase of advanced navigational equipment.
"The announcement of today's pleas are a sad culmination to an event that was a tragedy for the city, the department and the people of Staten Island," she said. "Nothing, however, can undo the tragedy that occurred 18 months ago and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who lost loved ones or were injured that day."
Mr. Ryan's guilty plea overshadowed that of his relative, Mr. Mauldin, who admitted lying to safety board investigators two days after the crash by saying that the two-pilot rule was the "standard and usual practice and procedure."
"I was scared," Mr. Mauldin told Magistrate Judge Viktor V. Pohorelsky. "I was afraid."
Mr. Mauldin said of the two-pilot rule, "I did know that it varied from captain to captain."
His defense lawyer, James Walden, whose firm O'Melveny & Myers represented him for free, said, "Mr. Mauldin has accepted responsibility for his small part in this whole affair."
Three other criminal cases related to the crash continue.
Mr. Smith, the assistant captain, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last August. His sentencing, which had been scheduled for yesterday, has been postponed.
The prosecution of the ferry's captain, Michael J. Gansas, who had been charged with making false statements, has been deferred while he cooperates with the investigation.
Another defendant, William Tursi, who was Mr. Smith's doctor, has been charged with lying to investigators after the crash by failing to disclose Mr. Smith's medical condition, which included a history of hypertension, insomnia and back pain.
Colin Moynihan contributed reporting for this article.
Manager Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in 2003 Ferry Crash
By SEWELL CHAN (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=SEWELL%20CHAN&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=SEWELL%20CHAN&inline=nyt-per)
The highest-ranking city official charged in the crash that killed 11 passengers on a Staten Island ferry in 2003 pleaded guilty yesterday to negligent manslaughter, admitting that he failed to ensure the safe operation of the system and lied to investigators after the disaster.
The plea by Patrick Ryan, 53, who was hired as a deckhand in 1979 and rose to director of operations of the second busiest ferry system in the United States, after Washington State's, came 10 days before he was to have gone on trial on 11 counts of seaman's manslaughter. In a plea agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to only one of those counts, and is expected to be sentenced to up to a year in prison.
Prosecutors contended that the managerial failings of Mr. Ryan, who was not on the vessel, made him just as blameworthy as anyone who was on it. It also represented a major setback for the city, which financed Mr. Ryan's legal defense and faces a mountain of civil lawsuits filed in connection with the crash: 191 claims totaling more than $3.3 billion, according to the city comptroller's office. As of yesterday, 79 had been settled for a total of $2.7 million, none involving the passengers who died.
A second former official - Mr. Ryan's brother-in-law, John Mauldin - also accepted responsibility yesterday for the crash. Mr. Mauldin, 46, who was one of two port captains helping to oversee ferry operations, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to the National Transportation Safety Board. Mr. Ryan and Mr. Mauldin resigned their positions before their pleas.
The authorities charged Mr. Ryan, who was suspended with pay after he was indicted last July, under an obscure federal statute that dates to 1838. The law can be used to prosecute a ship's officers, as well as executives in the corporation that owns the vessel, in this case the City of New York, for negligence or recklessness that leads to death at sea. So rare are prosecutions under the statute that even experts in admiralty and maritime law had difficulty yesterday recalling modern precedents.
"This is a rare case indeed," said James F. Moseley Jr., a lawyer in Jacksonville, Fla., who is chairman of the Criminal Law Committee of the Maritime Law Association of the United States. "Most of the cases were in the early 19th century or prior to World War I."
The case, which was prosecuted by the office of the United States attorney in Brooklyn, centered on a so-called two-pilot rule that requires two employees capable of navigating the ferry to be in the wheelhouse while the ferry is in operation.
Only one person, Assistant Captain Richard J. Smith, was at the controls of the Andrew J. Barberi on the afternoon of Oct. 15, 2003. He lost consciousness moments before the vessel, cruising at full speed, hit a maintenance pier near the St. George terminal.
Mr. Ryan, who wore a blue suit jacket, a maroon tie and brown trousers, was composed but somber as he appeared before Chief Judge Edward R. Korman in Federal District Court in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon.
As the director of ferry operations, Mr. Ryan drafted a series of standard operating procedures in 2002 that confirmed the existence of the two-pilot rule. He acknowledged however, that he never distributed the procedures, trained his staff in their use or made sure the two-pilot rule was followed.
"I didn't get them out the right way," he said. "I didn't train people in it. I didn't instruct people in it. I didn't disseminate it in the right way. You ask me why, your honor? I have searched my soul and heart wide and I can't tell you why."
Mr. Ryan admitted that he lied on June 3, 2004, when he told Coast Guard investigators that when he was a captain, he followed the two-pilot rule and stayed with his assistant captain in the pilothouse nearly all the time, even in good weather. In fact, he said, he adhered to the rule mainly in bad weather.
"His executive or managerial negligence was a cause of the crash," the lead prosecutor, Andrew J. Frisch, said during the hearing. Mr. Ryan and his defense lawyer, Thomas Fitzpatrick, did not comment afterward. The city's corporation counsel, Michael A. Cardozo, said in a statement that the guilty plea "does not change the city's belief that the city was not negligent in the operation of the Staten Island ferry, and that its overall liability for the tragic accident is limited."
Several relatives of the deceased sobbed as they listened to the proceedings. Afterward, they said they were disappointed to learn that Mr. Ryan might not spend multiple years in prison.
Debra Canini, who lost her husband, Pio, said she believed Mr. Ryan should spend "the rest of his life" in prison. Michelle Ferrante, whose son Vincent Ferrante Jr. was killed, said she had hoped for a more detailed explanation of Mr. Ryan's failings.
"What I wanted him to say was exactly how that ferry was run on a day-to-day basis," she said. "They get up, they say they're guilty and they don't have to explain. They were playing Russian roulette with everyone's lives, for years and years."
Several people said they believed that Iris Weinshall, the commissioner of the Department of Transportation since 2000, should also be held responsible.
"There's blame for everybody, from the deckhand all the way up to Iris Weinshall," said Kathleen Healy, a mother of four whose husband, John, was killed. "That is why I'm unsatisfied. This is her department."
Mrs. Healy added: "Smith fell asleep behind the wheel. She fell asleep behind her desk."
In a statement, Ms. Weinshall, who is the wife of Senator Charles E. Schumer , cited a list of changes introduced since the disaster, including the hiring of more staff and the purchase of advanced navigational equipment.
"The announcement of today's pleas are a sad culmination to an event that was a tragedy for the city, the department and the people of Staten Island," she said. "Nothing, however, can undo the tragedy that occurred 18 months ago and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who lost loved ones or were injured that day."
Mr. Ryan's guilty plea overshadowed that of his relative, Mr. Mauldin, who admitted lying to safety board investigators two days after the crash by saying that the two-pilot rule was the "standard and usual practice and procedure."
"I was scared," Mr. Mauldin told Magistrate Judge Viktor V. Pohorelsky. "I was afraid."
Mr. Mauldin said of the two-pilot rule, "I did know that it varied from captain to captain."
His defense lawyer, James Walden, whose firm O'Melveny & Myers represented him for free, said, "Mr. Mauldin has accepted responsibility for his small part in this whole affair."
Three other criminal cases related to the crash continue.
Mr. Smith, the assistant captain, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last August. His sentencing, which had been scheduled for yesterday, has been postponed.
The prosecution of the ferry's captain, Michael J. Gansas, who had been charged with making false statements, has been deferred while he cooperates with the investigation.
Another defendant, William Tursi, who was Mr. Smith's doctor, has been charged with lying to investigators after the crash by failing to disclose Mr. Smith's medical condition, which included a history of hypertension, insomnia and back pain.
Colin Moynihan contributed reporting for this article.