He was charged for causing death by careless conduct, after his boat fatally struck a 17 year old tourist Logan Pratt who was swimming in an unmarked zone.
Two years later, a jury of 9 found 31 year old boat captain Jesse James Smith not guilty. Tests revealed that Smith had no alcohol or drugs in his body when the incident occurred, and the crown took into consideration that Smith did admit to running over Pratt unintentionally, but it was because he could not see her, and the teen and her mother were both swimming in an area where swimming was not allowed due to boat traffic.
Smith was represented in court by Audrey Matura, and she told us what led the jury to side in favor of her client.
Audrey Matura, Attorney
"And the prosecution called about 11 witnesses, about two of those witnesses we agreed with and key evidence was from Dr. Estradabran who showed where the injury was, was basically in her lower body, unfortunately, between her leg by the groin."
"We also had evidence from Mr. Kaelon Young from Port Authority that went out and measured the distance to see where this incident occurred. And we also had evidence from eyewitnesses, the mother who was there, who didn't really see the exact incident, but said she was there."
"A friend of hers who took her to the place, who took her to the area and said, go, you can swim here. One of the witnesses was also the coworker of my client, and one of the tourists on board."
"One of the critical things that we as a defense attack was the change of story. What happened, the evidence of Tamara Smith, Jeff Allen, and her friend, Mario, what they had said to the police initially was very different and supported more what my client was saying."
"But coming to the trial, they all changed their story and tried to bring it together. And so that was one of the things we put on them. I think a lot came down to credibility. I can't say how the jurors decided at the end of the day, but I could say that that was one of the main things that we did."
"My Client gave a statement from the dock and he basically explained what really transpired. And his thing is look, I did everything in my power. I was looking ahead. There was absolutely no one that you could see. Our theory is that they were out swimming, diving, snorkeling, whatever, but at the time when the boat passed, the poor young lady was underwater, and he said that because of where the injury was."
"If she had been standing as the mother claimed and the water was shallow and the boat would have seen, or the captain of the boat would have seen her. But because of where the injury was, she couldn't have been standing."
"That was our theory. When my client took the stand and explained from a statement from the dock what happened, well, our version was basically. look, I was not careless. I did everything. The day was clear. Nothing was obstructing me. They did the urine test. He wasn't drunk or anything. I wasn't going excessive speed. This is 700 feet away from the shore. This is an area that boats pass. They didn't have any life jacket, nothing for you to say that they were out there. It's a very traumatic story for both sides of the family. But at the end of the day, the jurors with all the evidence from him not guilty. And we were very thankful for the verdict. And of course, we continue to offer sympathies to the family of Miss Logan Pratt."
The trial started a week ago and the jury deliberated for just over four hours.
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