Jury Deadlocks in Trial of Boat Crash Fatal to 5

A mistrial was declared Thursday when jurors could not agree whether Virl Earles was guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a 1984 boating collision near Seal Beach that killed five people.

The Santa Ana Superior Court jury deadlocked 9 to 3 for innocent.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John Conley said he did not know whether he would seek a retrial.

Earles, 30, of Seal Beach was driving the boat at night when it struck a large concrete buoy head-on, killing five of his eight passengers. Earles and three others were seriously injured. The group had been returning to Anaheim Bay from a boat ride to view the Queen Mary on Oct. 28, 1984. The buoy was along the west side of the bay, well out of the channel that boaters are required to stay in.

The prosecution, which sought five counts of involuntary manslaughter, contended that Earles was driving at an unsafe speed and failed to use caution.

Investigators said Earles had an alcohol blood level of 0.11%, slightly above the legal limit for motorists. The finding, however, did not have any bearing in the case, because there are no drunk driving laws governing boaters.

“I’m disappointed; we spent a lot of time working on this, and I thought we had a good case,” Conley said.

But Earles’ attorney, Gary Pohlson, said his client was also disappointed.

“He was glad that nine people believed he was not guilty, but he was really disappointed that it wasn’t all of them. He certainly wasn’t jubilant.”