Supreme Court Vermont voids one of two drunk boating convictions
George Dean Martin was found guilty twice for boating while intoxicated, death resulting, and received two consecutive 3-year sentences for an incident while motoring in which he capsized a
Macgregor 26X, spilling his guests into Lake Champlain - including
children Melissa Mack 9 and Trevor Mack 4 who drowned. Martin had a blood alcohol breath test of 0.217 an hour after the
accident.
The Supreme Court of Vermont found the language of the law did not define death resulting as part of the criminalized conduct, and thus two convictions for a
single incident could not stand. (The law declares operating a vessel while intoxicated a crime, and thus he was effectively sentenced twice for the same crime.)