Did a Mistake or a Crime Kill 5 People? : Jury Deliberating About Fatal Boating Crash

A jury began the task Monday of deciding whether a boating accident off Seal Beach that left five people dead in 1984 was the result of a mistake or a crime.

Virl H. Earles was driving a speedboat into Anaheim Bay when he became confused by navigation lights, missed the main channel and drove straight into an unlit buoy at five times the speed limit.

“You think that’s not bad luck?” defense attorney Gary Pohlson asked the jury during final arguments Monday. “If he’s three feet to the left or three feet to the right, you would never have heard of Virl Earles. He’s the unluckiest man in the world. That’s not a crime.”

Earles, 30, of Seal Beach, is on trial for the second time for involuntary manslaughter. A mistrial was declared the first time the case was brought before a jury because jurors could not reach a unanimous decision. The first jury deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of acquittal in January. He is being tried in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Jean Rheinheimer.

“Mr. Earles decided he was smart enough to go into the harbor at five to six times the speed limit,” countered Deputy Dist. Atty. John Conley. “It was like someone decided to take a freeway off-ramp at 70 instead of 15.”

Conley cited Earles’ testimony that he and several friends had split a bottle of tequila early in the evening. They rode to the Red Onion restaurant at Peter’s Landing in Huntington Harbor, where Earles testified he had two or three more drinks. At closing time, three others joined the party for the ride back, with a side trip to see the Queen Mary.

‘Having a Good Time’

Pohlson said Conley failed to introduce any evidence that Earles had drunk too much. The defense lawyer contended that the group was “just having a good time” and had “some more drinks--which is natural.”

Earles and three survivors testified that he drove the power boat in circles, loops and figure-8’s on the way back--which Conley saw as evidence of his carelessness but which Pohlson contended proved he had the boat under control.

Earles claimed that a missing light at the end of the west jetty guarding the entrance to the bay threw him off course. He entered the bay, with a speed limit of 5 m.p.h., at a speed of 25 to 30 m.p.h.

“A mistake could be understandable,” Conley told jurors. “But beelining into the harbor at five or six times the speed limit--that’s not understandable. That’s taking eight other peoples’ lives into your own hands.”

Those killed were John Bakos, 22, Ronald Myers, 22, and Anthony Sutton, 27, all of Seal Beach; Kathy Weaver, 24, of Laguna Beach, and Patricia Hulings, 20, of Downey.

Earles was thrown from the boat and severely injured. Carol Kemble, 25, of Laguna Beach and Ernest Chavez, 25, of Bakersfield were thrown into the water but managed to climb onto the buoy. They held Earles’ head out of the water as he lapsed in and out of consciousness.

Stephen Brennan, 24, of Huntington Beach, managed to swim ashore for help despite a shattered pelvis and internal bleeding.