Interesting article about current lawsuit regarding slide above Eisenhower Tunnel

[SBrown]

Avalanche investigators testifying in criminal case could have "chilling effect," warns Colorado AG

Evan Hannibal happily handed over his helmet video of the avalanche that triggered below his snowboard and buried a service road above Interstate 70 last March. He hoped the Colorado Avalanche Information Center would use the video and his first-person account to help educate other skiers and...

coloradosun.com

 

[tball]

To make sure I understand the charges, it wasn't illegal for them to be there, was it? Are they charged with reckless endangerment because they triggered the slide?

 

[scott43]

To make sure I understand the charges, it wasn't illegal for them to be there, was it? Are they charged with reckless endangerment because they triggered the slide?

That was my thinking as well. Reckless endangerment I would imagine entails some form of negligence? Not sure if they expected to cause an avalanche or did it for fun? This may just be law enforcement culture bumping up against dude-bro culture, dunno.

 

[tball]

What really gets me is they are coming after these guys, while, apparently, no charges have been filed in the Telluride case where two snowboarders illegally cut a rope and killed a father innocently down below:

A ducked rope line. A massive avalanche: Detailed report on deadly Telluride slide comes as sheriff’s probe continues

In late December, San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters warned skiers and snowboarders about the region’s mounting avalanche dangers and said ducking boundary ropes and ignoring closures at Telluride ski area could result in criminal charges like reckless endangerment.

coloradosun.com

Discussion on the Telluride avalanche here:

Discussion extending from Bear Creek/Telluride avalanche death and legal responsibilities therein

I've reread the CAIC report, I don't see where the details of ducking a rope into permanently closed terrain are in there -- is that from another source? Also the report mentions a lot of common landmarks in that slope, it sounds like it is not uncommonly skied. It seems to me the snowboarders...

www.skitalk.com

 

[Tony S]

To make sure I understand the charges, it wasn't illegal for them to be there, was it? Are they charged with reckless endangerment because they triggered the slide?

Quite apparently.

 

[cantunamunch]

Interesting. Restitution of an avalanche mitigation device (did it actually work to design? vs. Mission of an information center (that did not really work to design in this instance).

What do we think society really needs?

 

[pchewn]

Mistrial due to not enough jurors.

Lack of Jurors prompts mistrial

 

[doc]

Mistrial due to not enough jurors.

Kind of makes you wonder whether the absence of sufficient jury pool is COVID-related, or due to general community perception about the nature of the charges.

Regardless, our judicial system depends on full civic participation in the jury part of the process. Hope this is not signaling a trend.

 

[pchewn]

Kind of makes you wonder whether the absence of sufficient jury pool is COVID-related, or due to general community perception about the nature of the charges.

Regardless, our judicial system depends on full civic participation in the jury part of the process. Hope this is not signaling a trend.

If I were in Summit County, and if I had a strong perception about the nature of the charges, I would WANT to be on the jury......

 

[Unpiste]

Is it possible the issue is that they literally couldn't find enough jurors from their pool who hadn't already formed an opinion on the case? I too would want to be on the jury, in some sense at least (I wouldn't really, because I don't think I could weigh the arguments fairly), but it would be quite impossible for me to be impartial under the circumstances.

 

[fatbob]

Is it possible the issue is that they literally couldn't find enough jurors from their pool who hadn't already formed an opinion on the case? I too would want to be on the jury, in some sense at least (I wouldn't really, because I don't think I could weigh the arguments fairly), but it would be quite impossible for me to be impartial under the circumstances.

This quite possibly - everyone is involved somewhat tangentially in the ski industry in Summit and therefore might be difficult to have an objective opinion. Plus I think it's a bad case to bring and smacks of some degree of politics against backcountry ski and snowboarder activities.

 

[pchewn]

I doubt that the lack of jurors was due to the nature of the avalanche trial. Most people called to jury duty have no idea what the case is until they are seated for selection. They pull jurors in and have several cases for juries. You don't know what case (if any) you'll be assigned to until you arrive. (Assuming Summit County operates like Washington County Oregon)

 

[fatbob]

What really gets me is they are coming after these guys, while, apparently, no charges have been filed in the Telluride case where two snowboarders illegally cut a rope and killed a father innocently down below:

A ducked rope line. A massive avalanche: Detailed report on deadly Telluride slide comes as sheriff’s probe continues

In late December, San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters warned skiers and snowboarders about the region’s mounting avalanche dangers and said ducking boundary ropes and ignoring closures at Telluride ski area could result in criminal charges like reckless endangerment.

coloradosun.com

Discussion on the Telluride avalanche here:

https://www.SkiTalk.com/threads/dis...ath-and-legal-responsibilities-therein.14965/

I guess there ultimately proved to be no "period" about it

 

[François Pugh]

Note to Self
What not to do in the event that I witness an avalanche:
1) Do not report avalanche, whether I caused the avalanche or not - it might lead to criminal charges against me; do not rely on anyone not being dumb enough to mistakenly believe I caused it.
2) Do not hand over video or other evidence - it could be used as evidence in a court case against me.
3) Do not try and rescue anyone who might be caught in the avalanche - just get away now - I was never there.

I would like to thank Summit County prosecutors for this elucidating bit of legal education.

 

[tball]

I doubt that the lack of jurors was due to the nature of the avalanche trial. Most people called to jury duty have no idea what the case is until they are seated for selection.

Yep.

Occam's razor suggests it was a powder day.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Interesting. Restitution of an avalanche mitigation device (did it actually work to design? vs. Mission of an information center (that did not really work to design in this instance).

What do we think society really needs?

The avalanche covered a regularly used service road in about 20 feet of snow.

From the video, it would sound like they did not premeditatedly precipitate the avalanche. AFAIK, they were there legally.

CAIC

Is it possible the issue is that they literally couldn't find enough jurors from their pool who hadn't already formed an opinion on the case? I too would want to be on the jury, in some sense at least (I wouldn't really, because I don't think I could weigh the arguments fairly), but it would be quite impossible for me to be impartial under the circumstances.

After dismissing some potential jurors for cause — like a vaccine shot and a big test for a college student — there were not enough jurors to try two backcountry snowboarders facing criminal charges involving an avalanche. So Casias was forced to declare a mistrial. [/QUOTE]
That reads to me like due to the number of no shows, and the legitimate dismissals, there were insufficient jurors in the pool. I don't know what size the pool has to be to begin with since there will inevitably be more dismissals due to prosecution and defense objections.

I doubt that the lack of jurors was due to the nature of the avalanche trial. Most people called to jury duty have no idea what the case is until they are seated for selection. They pull jurors in and have several cases for juries. You don't know what case (if any) you'll be assigned to until you arrive. (Assuming Summit County operates like Washington County Oregon)

I believe that is the case in Summit County. Although perusing the newspapers you could get an idea about a high profile case like this.

If I were in Summit County, and if I had a strong perception about the nature of the charges, I would WANT to be on the jury......

I presume someone with a strong perception would be eliminated by either the defence or prosecution.

 

[John Webb]

Still too annoyed at Beaver Creek to buy a lift ticket there (have skied it since when on Vail passes) Massive snow week.

It started when I exited Eisenhauer tunnel going west 20 years ago. Radio said an avalanche on west side of tunnel blocked
the westbound tunnel exit 10 minutes after I passed that point. Then I was thinking that with so much snow on road I-70 should be closed. I looked
to other side and Yes eastbound was closed at Vail. I got to BC and lined up for the bus to go up but everyone was coming down. Total power
outage up the hill. Lodges, hotels, lifts (loaded with skiers). This after 14 inches of snow overnight on top of 10+14+8+10 in past 5 days.

Now stranded on a primo powder day I had a very strong urge to kill Vail Associates and the Power company -Holy Cross Electrical Cooperative.
From Minturn the truckers said to get past Vail take the back road past Ski Cooper to Leadville. I did and got thru but could see absolutely nothing
in the driving snow. Worst whiteout ever- just aim between snowbanks and go !
The day before at Breck and the next day at Loveland were my 2 best powder days ever.

 

[Mike King]

They took a plea deal and will not have to pay restitution.

Snowboarders charged in backcountry avalanche settle criminal case, won’t have to pay $168,000 in restitution

Tyler Dewitt and Evan Hannibal agreed to a deal that includes probation and community service but no financial penalty.

coloradosun.com

 

[Gary Stolt]

Sometimes our judicial system is hard to understand. It seems to go after easy targets. In this case, the avalanche occurred while they were there. Without this trigger, there is a good possibility that the snow would slide at a later time when cars were on the road?

 

[Unpiste]

They took a plea deal and will not have to pay restitution.

Snowboarders charged in backcountry avalanche settle criminal case, won’t have to pay $168,000 in restitution

Tyler Dewitt and Evan Hannibal agreed to a deal that includes probation and community service but no financial penalty.

coloradosun.com

Seems like this just leaves all the important questions unanswered, and doesn’t really change anything about the optics of the case.

What were the charges they plead to? Why did this become a criminal issue in the first place? Right now, most of what I’m seeing is a whole bunch of reasons for Colorado skiers not to report avalanches and especially not to provide any evidence to the CAIC, and that’s not good.

Since I’m not a legal expert, my instinct would also be to apply any lessons from this case to other states and reporting centers as well.