They are the same witnesses that stated he had been drinking, had been told to NOT drive the boat, witnessed him fail the sobriety tests, etc... The kid was underage, regardless of BAC, anything over 0.0 is over for his age.

I have known a person that woke up and had a drink, he had become such alcholics that no one even realizes he was drunk because he seam perfectly fine. This was all well and good until they were in an accident and killed 3 people plus himself. If I remember correctly it was a .23 BAC

I'm just trying to reiterate, the Kid's bad decisions for the whole day, caused the problems, not just the end result. Drink if you want, just don't boat and/or drive....That really is the bottom line, everything else is consequences...

Not even close. When Water Patrol has some sort of accident it's just very public. Here are the real reports from MHP on boating/ drowning reports: http://www.mshp.dps.mo.gov/WP03/SearchAction

What if the kid jumped overboard, slipped out of the vest on purpose in an attempt to flee? Still manslaughter?

All the stupid decisions that kid made does not excuse the fact that a guy was cuffed and his vest was not on properly. The vest should have been impossible to remove while cuffed. One of two situations happened. Either he slipped the cuffs off, or he never put his arms through the vest, either way it"s cops responsibility to make sure the cuffs are tight enough and the persons life vest is properly secured. MHP can probably expect to open the checkbook for this one.

I do not think that it will even matter what the guy had done up to the point of being arrested. Once arrested, I am sure that the Water Patrol has to at least exercise "reasonable care". I do not think that any reasonable person would argue that an improperly fit life jacket (by the WP holding him in custody) would be exercising reasonable care. Like I say, I don't care how old he is, what he was doing or not doing, but once arrested, he was under the care of the WP. This is going to be a big one, and I would also not be surprised if criminal charges.

I totally agree that drunk people should not be driving boats, but that is not the point here. It has nothing to do with whatever he did up to the point of having this life jacket incorrectly put on him. The point is the actions of the WP that put this young mans life in harms way. The life jacket should have been properly put on (it might have meant un-cuffing him for a minute). If the officer was afraid for his safety he should have called for help before un-cuffing him to properly put the jacket on.

Lastly, one would assume that a life jacket that a WP officer put on would be done in a safe way. One could think (especially a drunk person, which should have made the WP take even MORE care) that it could be cool to try to make a run for it by jumping out of the boat. It would not be the first time that a drunk made a bad decision to "grandstand" in front of others. What in the world could go wrong, as I have a jacket that was put on by WP?

If a can blew out of his boat, he should have been pulled over. If he failed the field tests, he should have been arrested. Once he was arrested, he is under that care of the WP and should have had a properly fit lifejacket. Would we look at it differently if he would have just slipped off a dock and drowned because of an improperly worn life jacket?

Very Sad for all involved.

Once he is taken into CUSTODY, he is now the water patrol's responsibility. They did not provide him safety, often times drunks need to be protected from harming themselves as well as the public.

I Respectfully disagree.... It has EVERYTHING to do with what put the kid in the position in the first place. His decisions put him in that position.

The WP is on the lake for protection of everyone that is not operating in an unsafe manor. The kid jumped by the accounts of the witnesses, he too made that decision. Ramnifications are learned ALWAYS after the fact, rarely are they learned ahead of time.

Yes... The WP officer had him in custody, He placed cuffs on him to protect himself from being accosted by the arrest'y (SOP) He placed a PFD on him, and was driving the boat to unload and book him. The WP Boat was NOT in an accident, Didn't throw him overboard (according to witnesses) nor were there any actions by the WP officer to make the kid get up and jump off by any of the accounts that have been witnessed. I Just don't see where the WP didn't provide prudence in his duties? The kid made the decision and acted on it... He is responsible for his own actions...

Again I ask: What if the kid caused a larger accident, killed a bunch of people (maybe even one of your own friends/family) Would you be *****ing about the WP not having caught him if he had witnessed something, possible as trivial as beer can overboard? I am guessing they would still be on the chopping block...

I agree with you. The WP had every right to pull him over for a can blowing out, and then arresting him if he failed the tests! I am glad that he was not on the lake to run into anybody else or to put anybody in harms way. WP was doing thier job up to that point.

Where I part ways with you is the "reasonable care" that should have been taken once he was in custody, especially knowing that he was drunk, and knowing that drunk people can do dumb things. The bar of "reasonable care" could certainly be higher, knowing that he was drunk (or at least believing that he was drunk, which evidently the WP believed that he was). Because he broke the law does not mean that the Officer could handle him in a careless manner, which in this case means not putting the life jacket on correctly. It would have almost been better if no life jacket was on him at all, as he would have not had the false security of having one on. IF the jacket would have been put on this young man CORRECTLY, he would most probably still be alive today. In my opinion, very sloppy work, and the State will get an opportunity to write a large check.

Very very sad. Sounds like a great kid who made some mistakes but did not deserve to die. Many of us, myself included, have been drunk on the water. I thank my lucky stars I am not dead. Police arrest and retention protocols here must be critically reviewed so this DOES NOT happen again.

+ 1.