Judge dismisses charges over boy's death on water slide

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

24 minutes ago

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A judge has dismissed criminal charges against a Kansas water park owner and the designer of a 17-story slide on which a 10-year-old boy was decapitated in 2016.

The Kansas City Star reports that Wyandotte County Judge Robert Burns found Friday that state prosecutors showed grand jurors inadmissible evidence in dismissing second-degree murder charges against Schlitterbahn owner Jeff Henry and designer John Schooley. The judge also dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against operations manager Tyler Miles.

State prosecutors didn’t immediately return phone and email messages. They alleged that shoddy planning and maintenance led to Caleb Schwab’s death on a special day for elected officials. Caleb’s father is Scott Schwab, a state lawmaker who’s now Kansas secretary of state.

A Schlitterbahn spokeswoman says the company welcomes the decision.


Read more: https://apnews.com/b2d5c3a2599540798575e482b38990f1

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Short article. No more at link.

[CloudWatcher]

1. I can't tell from the article if it was dismissed with prejudice (or if that makes sense here).

Prosecutor error, but can they go back to a different grand jury and try again?

[PoliticAverse]

2. The referenced article from the Kansas City Star has more details...

The Attorney General can return to the grand jury to seek another round of criminal charges. The office can also pursue charges through a preliminary hearing, a more common route in Kansas for a criminal case.

See: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article226632094.html

[CloudWatcher]

5. Thanks!

[Blue_Tires]

10. Good, because corners were cut, safety bypassed and records destroyed

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a23568619/schlitterbahn-freak-accident-caleb-schwab/

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/jeff-henry-verruckt-schlitterbahns-tragic-slide/

[dalton99a]

15. "We don't need no stinkin' engineers"

While Henry and Schooley stood on an elevated platform between the slide’s main descent and second hill that day the slide opened, they watched as a raft lifted riders over the crest of Verrückt’s second hill. Henry noticed something.

“Man, are they hitting that net up there?” Henry asked Schooley, according to the indictment. “That boat flew. That boat looked like it flew.”

[Honeycombe8]

12. Thanks. That's good to know. nt

[Eugene]

3. This KMBC article has more details.

The Kansas Attorney General still has the opportunity to bring the case against another grand jury, or to file a criminal complaint and pursue a traditional trial.

https://www.kmbc.com/article/murder-case-dismissed-in-schlitterbahn-water-slide-death-due-to-improper-evidence/26472546

[CloudWatcher]

6. Thanks, I hope they don't drop this! n/t

[genxlib]

4. This was a close call for me

I was lined up to work on parks with this company in Florida. Thank goodness they all fell through.

They turned out to be total cowboys who were just making things up as they went along. They kept pushing the envelop without any real scientific understanding until the rides finally got deadly.

[MuseRider]

7. I was hoping to ride it

that summer but did not get there then this happened.

[genxlib]

8. Then you got even luckier than I did

At least I was only risking my reputation and not my head.

[MuseRider]

9. From I-70 it looked like a lot of fun.

I never even got closer than that but.....yes I was lucky. That poor kid and the others on that particular ride.

It sounds like you were lucky, or just plain smart, too.

[mr_lebowski]

11. Aiming for 2nd Degree murder charges in a case like this seems LUDICROUS ... jmho

Unless your intent was to overcharge, and hence lose.

And then it sounds like prosecutors also broke evidence rules on top of it. WTH?!?

This Schwab fellow ... is he GOP?

[Peace lady]

13. Following from Kansas

Yes, Schwab is GOP. I’m from Kansas and have been following this case closely. The family was there for a special day for politicians and their families. Although I have never agreed with Schwab politically, I would never wish for this horror to happen to him or anyone. There was definitely negligence and a cover up. The slide stayed up for months before being resently torn down. I never liked that park! It was dirty and used non-union construction workers.

[samnsara]

14. can the family still sue the park?

[dalton99a]

16. The park has already settled for $20 million

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article148513129.html