South Boston boat owner will stand trial on criminal charges for fatal harbor crash back in July of 2021

Universal Hub is reporting that earlier this week, a judge ruled that there is enough evidence to warrant a criminal trial for a fatal boat crash in Boston Harbor back in July of 2021.

On July 17th, 2021, a boat – the Make it Go Away –  crashed into a 40-foot day marker off of Castle Island and left several people injured and one woman dead.  The South Boston (Seaport) man who was driving the boat, Ryan Denver,  argued his indictment should be dismissed due to the fact his conduct was careless but not “wanton and reckless” behavior, which is required for convictions on the charges.

But Suffolk Superior Court Judge Robert Ullman concluded that prosecutors and police had presented enough evidence to a grand jury to warrant the indictment it issued back in October 2021. Denver’s innocence or guilt will be settled before a superior-court jury during trial. Denver faces criminal charges, including involuntary manslaughter, three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, for the collision that caused the death of Jeanica Julce.

In a separate civil action in a federal suit -Denver asked a federal judge to limit how much he would have to pay out for any lawsuits by invoking a federal law dating to 1851 meant to deal with pirates and bad storms.  Basically, the law limits the amount a person can sue a ship owner for to the value of the ship itself.  The judge did, in fact, grant a $50,000 limit on potential lawsuit damages.

Four of the seven passengers of the Make it Go Away and the parents of the woman who drowned want the judge to overturn this decision re: $50,000 limit on damages. The passengers and the federal government have filed briefs explaining why the judge should lift the limit in this case. They believe Denver was responsible for the crash and even admitted to being behind the wheel of the boat.

Denver responded to the briefs and basically refuses to take responsibility for anything. He also blames everyone else involved (but himself), including the woman who drowned after the crash and a driver of boat who was in the area but, according to Denver, didn’t help.

This is a very complicated case, but it appears that Denver will face a judge and jury for criminal charges.

You can read more details about this here.