manuel
08-27-2004, 04:45 AM
Two deaths net boater prison term
August 25, 2004
Associated Press
MIDDLEBURY The man convicted of boating while intoxicated after the boat he was sailing capsized on Lake Champlain and killed two children has been sentenced to serve six years in prison.
George Dean Martin, 48, of Charlotte was ordered to start serving his sentence immediately after a two-hour hearing Tuesday.
Martin was at the helm of a combination motorboat and sailboat on July 4, 2002, on Lake Champlain off Charlotte. The boat capsized, and Trevor Mack, 4, and his 9-year-old sister, Melissa, drowned.
Jurors convicted Martin of two counts of boating while intoxicated with death resulting. He could have been sentenced to serve up to 10 years in prison and $4,000 in fines. He had remained free on conditions until Tuesday.
Judge Helen Toor, who presided over the trial, rejected defense contentions that the Addison County State's Attorney's Office failed to prove the capsizing was the result of Martin's intoxication rather than the boat's instability, and that her instructions to jurors allowed them to convict Martin nonetheless.
The judge wrote in her three-page decision that there was enough evidence presented at trial for jurors to conclude Martin's drunkenness caused the boat to overturn, and that the jury could have concluded "a sober operator with faster reflexes" would have been able to avoid the capsizing.
She also wrote that her jury instructions were correct because they required jurors to determine whether Martin's drinking played a significant role in the capsizing.
Tuesday, Martin made a brief apology to the parents of Trevor and Melissa Mack, Steve and Laura Mack.
Martin's sister, Nancy Martin, told Toor that her brother had frequently expressed regret for the incident.
Steve Mack spoke to the judge of the pain his family has suffered since the children died. The family had hoped Toor would impose the maximum sentence of 10 years.
August 25, 2004
Associated Press
MIDDLEBURY The man convicted of boating while intoxicated after the boat he was sailing capsized on Lake Champlain and killed two children has been sentenced to serve six years in prison.
George Dean Martin, 48, of Charlotte was ordered to start serving his sentence immediately after a two-hour hearing Tuesday.
Martin was at the helm of a combination motorboat and sailboat on July 4, 2002, on Lake Champlain off Charlotte. The boat capsized, and Trevor Mack, 4, and his 9-year-old sister, Melissa, drowned.
Jurors convicted Martin of two counts of boating while intoxicated with death resulting. He could have been sentenced to serve up to 10 years in prison and $4,000 in fines. He had remained free on conditions until Tuesday.
Judge Helen Toor, who presided over the trial, rejected defense contentions that the Addison County State's Attorney's Office failed to prove the capsizing was the result of Martin's intoxication rather than the boat's instability, and that her instructions to jurors allowed them to convict Martin nonetheless.
The judge wrote in her three-page decision that there was enough evidence presented at trial for jurors to conclude Martin's drunkenness caused the boat to overturn, and that the jury could have concluded "a sober operator with faster reflexes" would have been able to avoid the capsizing.
She also wrote that her jury instructions were correct because they required jurors to determine whether Martin's drinking played a significant role in the capsizing.
Tuesday, Martin made a brief apology to the parents of Trevor and Melissa Mack, Steve and Laura Mack.
Martin's sister, Nancy Martin, told Toor that her brother had frequently expressed regret for the incident.
Steve Mack spoke to the judge of the pain his family has suffered since the children died. The family had hoped Toor would impose the maximum sentence of 10 years.