I understand MacDonalds is a co-defendant.  There will be an injunction
against the Big Mac shortly.



----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Barnette <aocfishman@ho*.co*>
To: <FLTechDiver@mikey.net>; <vbtech@ci*.co*>
Cc: <techdiver@aquanaut.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 2:51 PM
Subject: (another) diver death lawsuit


>
>
> --------------------
> Survivors Sue in Doria Diver's Death
> --------------------
>
> Parents, fiancee blame trainers and boat owner
>
> By Joe Haberstroh
> STAFF WRITER
>
> February 6, 2002
>
> The parents and former fiancee of a scuba diver who died while exploring
the
> wreck of the passenger liner Andrea Doria have filed a $35 million federal
> lawsuit against the people who trained him and the owner of the
> Montauk-based
> charter boat that brought him there.
>
> Christopher Murley, 44, of Cincinnati, was one of five divers to die over
> the
> summers of 1998 and 1999 at the Andrea Doria wreck site when he drowned
> while
> preparing to descend to the sunken ship. It lies 180 feet below the
surface,
> 100
> miles from Montauk.
>
> Like the four other divers, Murley had been taken to the site in July 1999
> by
> the Seeker, a diving charter boat that takes more scuba explorers to the
> Andrea
> Doria than any other boat.
>
> The lawsuit, filed in July, accuses Murley's scuba instructors, the
> certification agency Technical Diving International and Seeker operators
> Daniel
> Crowell and Jennifer Samulski of failing to ensure that Murley was
prepared
> to
> make the dives and of providing him inadequate supervision.
>
> Besides involving one of the Northeast's top dive boats, the lawsuit pits
> two
> attorneys who are themselves highly qualified divers. The attorney for
> Murley's
> parents, Richard Lefkowitz, has dived on the Andrea Doria, and one of the
> defendants' attorneys, William Turbeville II of Boca Raton, Fla., has been
> an
> instructor and is certified to "technical" depths - below the recreational
> limit
> of 130 feet.
>
> In filings at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Turbeville argues
> that
> Murley signed release forms that acknowledge the danger involved in
deep-sea
> diving and give up his right to sue. The release forms are expected to be
> the
> cornerstone of the defense argument to dismiss the lawsuit.
>
> The Massachusetts state medical examiner's office listed Murley's cause of
> death
> as drowning, with obesity and Murley's enlarged heart cited as "other
> significant factors," according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Murley, who stood
> 6-7
> and weighed 350 pounds, also had diabetes.
>
> Lefkowitz, a Garden City attorney, argues in court papers that Murley's
> instructors had cleared him for the high-level diving certification
> recommended
> for diving at the Andrea Doria even though he reportedly had not completed
> enough dives to earn it.
>
> "Our position is, Murley had no business being out there, no business at
> all,"
> Lefkowitz said.
>
> Crowell and Samulski operate the Seeker as part of their company, Deep
> Explorers
> Inc., in Brielle, N.J., but they dock the boat in Montauk during the
summer
> so
> they can ferry divers to the Northeast's premier wreck-diving sites. None
is
> more revered than the Andrea Doria, which sank in July 1956.
>
> Strong underwater currents, limited visibility and the difficulties
> presented
> when entering the deteriorating 697-foot wreck have contributed to 12
diving
> fatalities there since 1981.
>
> Murley died on July 21, 1999. Crowell has argued that Murley's demise
should
> not
> be considered a diving death because Murley was not underwater at the
time,
> merely proceeding to the rope that descended to the wreck when he
> experienced an
> unknown physical problem.
>
> A Coast Guard investigation released a year ago concluded that Murley's
> instructors should not have allowed him to dive because of poor health.
Joe
> Jackson, Murley's instructor and a defendant in the current lawsuit, said
in
> response that Murley had supplied him with a letter from a cardiologist
> clearing
> him for the activity.
>
> Jackson, reached in Cincinnati, declined to comment on the lawsuit, as did
> Turbeville. Crowell could not be reached.
>
> Copyright (c) 2002, Newsday, Inc.
>
> --------------------
>
> This article originally appeared at:
> http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidive062577225feb06.story
>
>
>
>
> Michael C. Barnette
> Association of Underwater Explorers
> Because it's there...somewhere...maybe.
> http://www.mikey.net/aue
>
>
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