Local News in Brief : Seal Beach : Convicted Boat Driver Seeks Damages in Crash

Virl Earles may have suffered damages as high as $1 million for the injuries he suffered after a speedboat he was driving crashed in Anaheim Bay, killing five friends, his lawyer argued Wednesday.

That figure--half of which would be paid by the federal government--was mentioned by Dana D. Denton as he urged a federal judge to fix damages at a substantial amount in a lawsuit over the 1984 crash.

Earles, whose blood-alcohol content was slightly above the allowable limit for automobile drivers at the time of the crash, is appealing his involuntary manslaughter convictions and three-year prison sentence in connection with the deaths.

Last month, a federal judge ruled that the Navy was negligent in its operation of the bay and should share equally with Earles in liability for any damages. The ruling came in a non-criminal lawsuit in which survivors and next of kin of those killed in the crash are seeking money damages.

U.S. District Judge James Ideman ruled that the Navy ignored the safety of pleasure boaters who used the bay, and called the accident “absolutely inevitable.” He found that Earles was “drunk or at least under the influence,” and decided that damages should be split between the him and the Navy.

Lawyers asked Ideman to fix damages at $750,000 for survivors of each of the five dead victims. They also asked for more than $1 million for Steven Brennan, a passenger who sustained serious permanent injuries in the wreck.

Warren Schneider, a lawyer with the Justice Department, urged Ideman to return only “symbolic” or non-monetary damages. Ideman is considering the case.