Jerry Boylan, the former captain of the dive boat M.V. Conception, was convicted by a jury for seaman's manslaughter under 18 U.S.C. § 1115 following a fire on August 31, 2019, that killed thirty-four people. The tragedy occurred when the boat, carrying passengers and crew, was struck by a fire that trapped everyone below deck. Boylan, who had over thirty years of experience, failed to train his crew on fire safety, did not assign a roving patrol as required by federal regulations, and abandoned ship by jumping overboard while passengers and crew members below were trapped. The district court initially dismissed an indictment that tracked the statutory language because it failed to allege gross negligence, but the government secured a second indictment alleging gross negligence. At trial, the jury was instructed that Boylan could be found guilty if he 'engaged in misconduct and/or acted with gross negligence.' The jury returned a guilty verdict, and Boylan was sentenced to four years in prison. He appealed, arguing that the statute requires gross negligence and that the inclusion of 'misconduct' in the jury instructions allowed for conviction on a lower standard than the law permits.
The panel, writing for the majority, addressed two primary issues: the statutory culpability standard under § 1115 and the potential error in the jury instructions. First, the court rejected Boylan's argument that § 1115 requires gross negligence. The statute explicitly criminalizes death caused by 'misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his duties,' and the text does not include the qualifier 'gross.' The court distinguished § 1115 from the federal involuntary manslaughter statute (§ 1112), which the Ninth Circuit has interpreted to require gross negligence. The panel explained that these are separate crimes with different purposes; § 1112 applies to all persons, while § 1115 applies specifically to vessel operators who hold the lives of passengers in their keeping. Citing legislative history and nineteenth-century precedent, the court found that Congress intended an ordinary negligence standard for seaman's manslaughter to ensure the strictest accountability for those in command of vessels. The court noted that when Congress intended to require gross negligence in maritime statutes, it explicitly stated so, as seen in 46 U.S.C. § 2302. Second, the court addressed Boylan's claim that the jury instruction's use of 'misconduct' was erroneous because it might permit conviction based on a standard lower than negligence. The court held that any such error was harmless. The district court repeatedly framed the case around gross negligence, the government never argued that mere misconduct was sufficient, and the jury instructions explicitly cautioned that violating a regulation alone was not enough. Furthermore, the evidence against Boylan was overwhelming, including his failure to train crew, lack of a roving patrol, and abandonment of the ship. The court concluded that a rational jury would have found him guilty regardless of the instruction error.
This decision clarifies that captains of commercial vessels can be convicted of seaman's manslaughter under a simple negligence standard, lowering the threshold for criminal liability compared to general involuntary manslaughter. The ruling affirms that the heightened duty of care owed by vessel masters justifies this standard. While the conviction is affirmed, the court left open the question of whether an indictment alleging only 'misconduct' without negligence would satisfy § 1115. The decision resolves a circuit split by aligning the Ninth Circuit with the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, ensuring uniformity in maritime criminal law. The case is remanded to the district court for the execution of the sentence, which remains in effect.
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