Cruise Bruise Blog
September 23, 2009
September 23, 2009
Prosecutor In Cruise Ship Murder Case Presented Faulty Science To Jurors
In pouring over the case details of the Scott Roston murder trial, I discovered an error the other day, one that until I discovered it has never been mentioned anywhere, by anyone. Is Scott Roston guilty? Clearly. Did he deserve life in prison without a parole? I believe so. Were jurors given correct science? I think not.
At the center of the issue is whether Scott Roston acted with malice. This makes a difference between voluntary manslaughter and second degree murder. The manslaughter term has a prison term that includes the possibility of parole. The murder charge resulted in life in prison without parole.
The hinging point on the malice charge is whether Karen Roston, a physical therapist was alive/conscious when she was thrown overboard. Mrs. Roston had been devoted to ballet, modern dance and tai chi, and had a daily regimen of ten-mile walks that had made her strong and agile.
The prosecution's witnesses say that she was alive/unconscious, simply because her clothing had air trapped in the pants and top, which kept her afloat.
The prosecution's USCG expert witness said that body was found floating on the water thirty miles southwest of San Diego on Saturday, February 13. 1988 around 1230 hours, nine and half hours after she had been reported missing. The air had been trapped in her clothing and that is what kept her afloat.
Medical examiners noted that had she attempted to swim after entering the water, the air would have been forced out of her clothes and that therefore she must have been unconscious when she went overboard; she had subsequently died from drowning.
Experts then testified that had Karen been alive when she went overboard, and fought to stay alive in the water, there would have been no air in her clothing. This is a wrong assumption. The assumption was that if she was alive when she hit the water, she would have attempted to swim as she "fought to stay alive".
The testimony hinges on the keywords "fought to stay alive". In theory, just trying to stay afloat is to have "fought" for one's life. Otherwise, you simply concede to the ocean and sink beneath the surface.
Though any reasonably adequate swimmer knows that the art of staying afloat doesn't require any movement at all. It is a breathing process, keeping the lungs full of air to give the body a flotation device, and not fighting that process with strenuous motion.
For long term floatation, it is best to conserve energy letting the lungs fill with air continually, which keeps the body afloat.
Certainly in the pitch dark of pre-dawn hours, with no real expectation of a quick rescue, a live victim would prepare themselves in the water for a long wait.
When Karen Roston was tossed off the ship, she may very well been alive, conscious even.
There was no scientific proof given that she was not conscious when she hit the water. She was tossed off the back of the Sundance Stardancer some time before 0300 hours, in pitch darkness. The ship was sailing back from Mexico, and would have been at full speed as the vessel headed back to San Diego.
Under those conditions, there would be a substantial wake behind the ship. Since she was thrown off the back of the ship, the wake would have propelled her away from the ship, much like a wave off shore will send things in its path towards the shoreline.
The process is similar to that of a Jacuzzi, where bubbles are created by water being churned by a motor. It fills the Jacuzzi with a white foam.
When a person is sitting in a Jacuzzi with a swimsuit on, the jets in the Jacuzzi will fill the swimsuit with bubbles creating major pockets of air that can be amusing, or rather embarrassing.
When Karen Roston hit the water, those bubbles in the wake, would have definitely filled her clothing. She was reported to have been on deck jogging, on a chilly night, wearing a jogging suit. That suit would become several air filled pockets, acting as a life preserver.
She had no reason to swim. If she stayed basically where she hit the water, if they did come looking for her, she would be quickly found. But, the ship did not look.
Now, keep in mind that this was mid February. The waters off the coast of northern Baja California, Mexico would be just about as cold as they could get, around 60°. Also, at 0300 hours you have the lowest air temperature of the day. During the day it would average a high of 65° , but at night the bottom low goes down to about 46°.
At a water temperature of 60°, hypothermia would have set in within about two hours or less if Mrs. Roston was either exhausted or unconsciousness. But, if conscious, given her good health, she might have survived for up to six hours before hypothermia set in and she drown.
While there were signs her husband had tried to strangle her, the strangulation did not kill her. She drowned. There was no evidence presented, that Mrs. Roston was not still fighting her husband, when she went overboard.
Advice from the United States Search And Rescue Task Force says that if you fall in cold water, "physical exercise such as swimming causes the body to lose heat at a much faster rate than remaining still in the water."
Because water was found in her lungs, and she had been kept afloat by her clothing, it would seem Mrs. Roston had taken some breaths while she was in the water. Clearly she was not dead when she hit the water.
Scott Roston reported his wife overboard around 0300 hours. She was in the sea for a period of about nine hours before she was found by the USCG. Why did the cruise ship not find her? Did they stop, turn around and do a search at 0300 hours when Mrs Roston was reported overboard? There is no evidence of that at all. The only search and rescue reports came from the USCG. It seems that Stardancer continued the voyage and arrived at the home port on time.
The prosecution's case that Mrs. Roston did not attempt to swim, was proof Roston had thrown his wife overboard after she was unconscious, but that she drown in the sea some time later doesn't hold water.
I suggest it is just as likely that after having an extended physical battle on the deck of the ship, as the evidence suggested, Roston got the upper hand on his tiny wife, lifted her up and heaved her overboard. Then, she succumbed to hypothermia and ultimately drowned. Mr Roston may have been acting in the heat of passion, a crime of voluntary manslaughter.
