Attorneys for men charged in 2018 duck boat sinking again ask that charges be dropped
Attorneys for three men charged in the sinking of a Branson duck boat in 2018 that left 17 people dead urged a Stone County judge to drop all charges against their clients.
Kenneth “Scott” McKee, 54; Curtis P. Lanham, 39, the general manager at Ride the Ducks in Branson; and Charles V. Baltzell, 79, the operations supervisor who was acting as a manager on duty that night, face criminal charges linked to the sinking.
The preliminary hearing, which lasted Wednesday and into Thursday, was an opportunity for both sides to present evidence before the judge decides whether to send the case to trial.
The state in its closing arguments, presented by Matt Selby, laid out a timeline of events on July 19, 2018.
Despite a written policy not to enter the water when severe weather was approaching, the managers and captain of Stretch Duck No. 7 choose to board 29 passengers onto Table Rock Lake that afternoon.
All three defendants on that day were in a position to cancel or delay the tour, Selby said.
A severe thunderstorm watch and warning had been issued, he added though the defense later argued that the defendants weren’t aware of the warning when they went out on the lake.
“They should have been aware at the very least of the severity of it,” Selby said.
Despite this, McKee, who captained the boat, still tried to beat the storm, Selby said.
The defendants each face 17 counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, a felony. The criminal charges were announced in July by the Missouri Attorney General and the Stone County prosecuting attorney.
McKee, who was steering the boat when it sank, additionally faces 12 counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, also felonies. Twelve children under the age of 17 were on the duck boat when it capsized.
In their closing arguments, attorneys for all three defendants argued that despite the tragic nature of the sinking, the decisions leading up to the ship’s watery demise did not constitute a crime because the defendants did not intentionally or knowingly choose to put their passengers in mortal danger.
“Do you think (McKee) knowingly wanted to put himself in harm’s way,” attorney J.R. Hobbs said of his client, who was injured and hospitalized when the water pushed him out the front of the boat. “He almost lost his life. It’s certainly not a class A felony as charged.”
Justin Johnston, who represents Baltzell, argued that the manager on duty did as he was supposed to. He consulted a weather source before the last boat went out. Johnson instead put the onus on the private weather radar paid for by Ride the Ducks, arguing that specific weather source was unreliable in showing the imminent wind gusts that eventually caused waves to push copious amounts of water into the boat.
Lanham’s attorney, Tom Bath, pleaded that Judge Alan Mark Blankenship act as a gatekeeper and drop the charges to “protect” the defendants from what he described as a continued years-long wringing out by the state and federal government.
The defense on Thursday called as witnesses two other employees at Ride the Ducks, as well as a maritime law expert. The day prior they also called a forensic meteorologist as an expert witness.
Wednesday’s testimony presented by the state included multiple law enforcement officers and a local business owner.
They also called to the stand Tia Coleman, one of two survivors among her family of 11 who went on the trip, who testified about the tragedy. She and three other women beside her remained in the courtroom through the hearing.
“You have my condolences for the terrible loss you suffered,” Blankenship told them.
Blankenship gave the state until the end of the year to file a written response to the defense’s motion to dismiss the charges.
He said a court date will be set next year to announce his decision on whether to move the case forward to trial.
