The Captain of the Sunken Italian Yacht is Beneath Investigation. Is He Chargeable for the Tragedy?theinsiderinsight

The captain of a sunken Italian yacht is beneath investigation after the accident off the coast of Sicily final week that killed seven individuals and left 15 survivors. 

New Zealand-born James Cutfield, 50, was chief officer of the British-flagged yacht Bayesian, which sank throughout a storm within the Tyrrhenian Sea close to the Sicilian port of Porticello on Monday, Aug. 19. 

He has been questioned a number of instances by Italian authorities, a supply near the investigation beforehand instructed PEOPLE. Police have opened manslaughter and negligent shipwreck investigations in reference to the sinking, per Ambrogio Cartosio, the Chief Prosecutor of Termini Imerese.

Regardless of investigators’ give attention to him, his precise culpability for the tragedy stays unsure, as Italian lawyer and authorized skilled Praxilla Trabattoni explains on this Q & A. (Trabattoni can also be a contributing author for PEOPLE). 

What does the interrogation of Cutfield imply?

Cutfield’s questioning doesn’t instantly suggest that he can be tried, Trabattoni says, provided that this type of investigation is commonplace for such incidents. 

This and comparable circumstances require a preliminary investigation during which authorities notify events concerned in order that they’ll appoint their very own forensic consultants and authorized groups to take part in investigations, together with, on this case, the autopsies of the victims. 

Is Cutfield beneath arrest?

Whereas Cutfield is being investigated for negligent shipwreck and murder, he’s not beneath arrest. For a pre-trial arrest — as occurred within the 2007 Amanda Knox case — there are particular criterion the prosecutors have to satisfy.

“First, the crime ought to foresee a sentencing of at least 5 years,” Trabattoni says. “Secondly, there must be a critical indication of guilt.”

Third, she says, prosecutors must have issues that the purported defendant is prone to tampering with proof or is a flight danger and will commit an identical crime. 

Is there a precedent for a case like this?

This sort of investigation just isn’t solely unchartered territory.

Trabattoni notes similarities with the 2012 capsizing of Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, which killed 32 and left 4,200 survivors, as beforehand reported by the Related Press and BBC.

Francesco Schettino, the captain of that ship, was later sentenced to 16 years in jail on costs just like those Cutfield is probably dealing with, per the outles. The search and rescue of the Bayesian is being performed by the identical crew that assisted with the Costa Concordia catastrophe, she says.

However there is a lengthy option to go earlier than Cutfield may meet an identical destiny – together with a bulletproof case from prosecutors.

How may authorities show the captain’s guilt?

Prosecutors should show past an affordable doubt that the actions or omissions of the captain induced or contributed to the tragedy, Trabattoni says. They’ll accomplish that by analyzing the boat and seeing if survivor and witness accounts are according to the bodily proof they discover. 

For instance, if the captain had heard that there was a climate alert and he did not deploy the stabilizer, or if he determined not to enter a port that will have been supplied a secure haven, or if he didn’t make sure that all of the doorways had been shut in the course of the evening. These represent conduct that will have contributed to the tragedy, Trabattoni says.

Prosecutors even have a authorized obligation not solely to search for proof in opposition to the occasion, but additionally in favor of the defendant, requiring a diligent investigation of the case, she says.

What Might Cutfield Argue in His Protection?

The captain has to show that he behaved and maintained his duties and obligations each in the course of the tragedy and after, says Trabattoni. There’s additionally the query, Was there something he may’ve carried out to avoid wasting lives?

He may additionally declare that it was an unforeseeable and unpredictable climate phenomenon and there was nothing he may’ve carried out to keep away from a catastrophe, she says. He may additionally declare that there was design or producer flaw within the vessel.

Are different surviving crew members culpable?

A number of crew members are actually anticipated to be positioned beneath investigation, native information shops Rai, Adnkronos and Sky Italia report. One in every of them is the first mate of the yacht, Tijs Koopman, who has been requested to not go away the Sicilian metropolis of Palermo in order that he may be questioned, per Corriere della Sera and TV channel TG La7.

“What typically occurs, and what occurred within the Costa Concordia case, is that these additional down the pecking order will reduce offers and clarify all the things that occurred,” Trabattoni says. This normally implies the captain would get a lot of the blame and, in flip, a harsher sentencing, she provides. 

“Maritime legislation dictates that the captain is in cost and answerable for the boat, crew and all of the individuals crusing with him so the last word accountability and legal responsibility lies with him,” she says. 

The accident claimed the lives of a number of high-profile people. They’ve been recognized by authorities as British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, Hannah Lynch; the yacht’s chef Recaldo Thomas; distinguished New York lawyer  Christopher Morvillo and his spouse, Neda, and Morgan Stanley Worldwide chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his spouse, Judy.

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