Judge Drops Some Charges Against Pilot

A judge on Friday dismissed negligent homicide charges against a Marine pilot in the Italian ski gondola tragedy that killed 20 people--but the aviator still faces more serious charges.

The pilot, Capt. Richard Ashby, 31, of Mission Viejo, will be court-martialed next month in Camp Lejeune, N.C., on graver charges of involuntary manslaughter, as well as several lesser charges.

The prosecutors’ decision to seek dismissal of the negligent homicide charges was viewed as a strategic move--possibly aimed at forcing jurors to convict Ashby on more serious charges at his court-martial. The judge, Lt. Col. Robert Nunley, granted the motion to dismiss.

Prosecutors indicated they wanted to streamline their case against Ashby, who piloted the EA-6B Prowler when the radar-jamming jet clipped the gondola cable in the Italian Alps while on a training flight. They did not give specifics at Friday’s motion hearing, and their written motion was not made available to news media.

Ashby could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of the 20 involuntary manslaughter counts.

Nunley also strongly suggested Friday that the government may not have enough evidence to convict the plane’s navigator of the most serious charges against him.

The issues were discussed during the fifth day of a weeklong motions hearing that is laying the groundwork for next month’s courts-martial of the two aviators.

Ashby and Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, 31, of Westbury, N.Y., the navigator, face court-martial proceedings next month for the tragedy last Feb. 3. Prosecutors allege that their jet was flying too low and too fast. Jury selection in Ashby’s case begins Feb. 4 and for Schweitzer’s on Feb. 22.