Drowned Diver captured in u/w tourist photo

[shinek]

I can understand the family's frustration, they believe, as did the police and prosecutors, that he murdered their daughter and want to see justice done. Sadly, I think the bottom line is its easier, quicker and cheaper for the authorities to accept the manslaughter conviction and get this over with than to go to the time, trouble and expense of a murder trial. No matter what any of us think, nobody can tell which way a jury may go in a murder trial.

Having said that, I suspect the family now have a very good civil suit if they wanted to go that route. Remember OJ was found not guilty in his criminal trial but was deemed responsible in the civil suit. Nothing can replace their daughter, but if they choose, this man could be paying, at least financially, for a long time to come.

[greenturtle]

Honeymoon scuba killer gets more jail time

September 18, 2009

CAIRNS, Australia — A US scuba diver who left his wife to sink and die on the ocean floor has had his one-year jail term extended by six months in a decision expected to provoke fresh grief for the woman's family.


More @ http://www.cdnn.info/news/safety/s090918.html

[lottie]

Now this is more like it...

The man who killed his wife while on a diving honeymoon on the Great Barrier Reef could face the death sentence when he is released from an Australian prison.
Gabe Watson has just 15 more months to serve in jail - a punishment that has outraged the family of his bride, Tina Watson - but officials in the US are determined he will not get away with her death so lightly.

Alabama's Attorney General, Troy King, announced at the week end that he will pursue Watson for a charge of capital murder, the worst category of killing in the state. And if convicted Watson faces death by lethal injection or life in prison without parole.

A dramatic photograph shot by an unsuspecting diver, who was taking a photograph of a friend, shows Tina's body lying on the seabed as another diver swims towards her stretched-out body in a vain attempt to help her.

There have been claims that Watson, a 32-year-old bubble-wrap salesman - who had made his way to the surface by the time this photo was taken - had killed his wife in order to cash in on her life insurance policy.

Under a deal he cut with Queensland prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, claiming that his bride's air tube had become dislodged from her mouth and she had panicked.

He had tried to help her but had then made his way to the surface to seek further help, he said.

The subsequent sentence of four and a half years - suspended so that he would serve only a year - was greeted with shock not only by Tina's family but by legal officials in the United States.

There was also public outcry in Australia.
Queensland's Attorney General Cameron Dick appealed the sentence, but it resulted in the Court of Appeal ruling last Friday that Watson should spend just an extra six months in prison, meaning he will be back in Alabama in December next year.

Despite Attorney General Mr King's determination to see Watson receive a severe sentence in the United States, he still has to address the question of whether the killer can be subjected to double jeopardy and be charged a second time in relation to the death of his wife.

'I've been deeply disappointed by the outcome of this case in Australia,' said Mr King. 'Tina Watson and her family have been deprived by the Australian court system of the justice they deserved,.'
As a result of his personal decision to go after Watson, Mr King arranged a meeting at the weekend with a team of prosecutors to compile evidence to present to a grand jury in the hope of securing an indictment for capital murder.

If the panel agrees there is enough evidence to gain a conviction in Alabama, Watson will face a murder charge and, should it be confirmed, a judge will decide whether he should be condemned to death or be sentenced to life behind bars.
'I hope to give the family what they could not get in Australia - justice,' said Mr King.
Tina's sister, Alanda Thomas, who is supporting the Attorney General's move, said: 'My sister Tina had her entire life taken from her by his actions and all he gets is 18 months in jail. That is just a disgrace.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...#ixzz0RfvFUaOo

[The Publisher]

He should be hanged, but there is just no way another charge can be sustained without ignoring some aspect of the Constitution, although that has never stopped the government before.

[rubber chicken]

The problem is, he needs to be proven guilty 'beyond a resonable doubt'. Based on the evidence published in the media, and that is the only evidence that I've seen, were I on the jury in is murder trial, I'd have to vote for an acquittal. That doesn't mean that I don't think he did it, I think he probably did but it's that word 'probably' that's enough to go for a not guilty verdict.
The Aussie authorities accepted the original Manslaughter plea because they didn't believe that they could convict him on charges of murder. I haven't seen anything to change that belief.

[The Publisher]

The Queensland Government says it is sending documents to the US relating to the trial of a man jailed over the death of his wife on the Great Barrier Reef.

American Gabe Watson is serving an 18 month jail sentence for the manslaughter of Tina Watson.

Ms Watson drowned while on a dive trip in 2003.

Queensland Attorney General Cameron Dick says the Government is sending publicly available documents from Watson's trial to his counterpart in Alabama.

"The police commission has started sending information to the Alabama Attorney General's office as an initial response to the request," he said.

"The request raises complex legal issues that have to be considered in the context of Australian national law including those related to mutual assistance and extradition."

source: ABC

[acelockco]

The Queensland Government says it is sending documents to the US relating to the trial of a man jailed over the death of his wife on the Great Barrier Reef.

You can't be tried for the same thing more than once though. At least that is what I thought.

[The Publisher]

Double jeopardy clause....the government has already indicated they are going to try to do an end run around the Constitution:

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.[1]"

[acelockco]

Double jeopardy clause....the government has already indicated they are going to try to do an end run around the Constitution:

Well what is the point of having the rule if they are just going to break it to suit their needs?

Agreed, although one can't hardly argue against the fact that if there was ever a person or circumstance for the rule to be broken, this clown who only got 18 months is it.