Female diver found dead in the water at Blue Heron Bridge

[ktomlinson]

You need to read the nature of the exception more carefully, as it does not require that the circumstances indicate that there is recording going on unless someone objects. It only requires that the conversation be taking place in public, in person, where the speakers have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

If your common sense tells you that two strangers talking at a public dive site, one of whom is wearing a camera in plain view on his head, falls within the category of in-person conversations that are private... then I'm quite sure I cannot help you.

Maybe the buddy was distraught? Diving is gear intensive, we do wear stuff on our head, and if the buddy was worried about the deceased diver it is possible that they didn't notice the camera.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

If you can find me a case where a distraught person had a reasonable expectation of privacy under the circumstances described here, cool. Otherwise, doesn't matter.

The issue isn't whether the guy being taped consented or likely would have consented or was in a state of mind such that he had any clue what was going on -- it's that when speaking to another person in a public place, you usually have no reasonable expectation of privacy. No reasonable expectation of privacy, no protection under the wiretap law and therefore no need to obtain the guy being taped's consent. He could have been wearing a hidden wire rather than a head-cam and the answer would still be the same.

For the record, I'm only admitted to practice in NY, am not admitted to practice in Florida, and nobody should be taking anything I say here as legal advice. Now back to the topic of this thread

 

[Angry Turtle]

For the record, I'm only admitted to practice in NY, am not admitted to practice in Florida, and nobody should be taking anything I say here as legal advice. Now back to the topic of this thread

Oh SNAP, a diver AND a lawyer in NY, you ARE the whole package!

 

[DandyDon]

I think the police can handle whatever it is.

 

[Crush]

Why presume that? I've seen countless times where one buddy was running low on air or had a gear issue and the other buddy signaled them to surface while continuing their own dive.

tReefhound- I would not dive with that buddy more than once!

When I finished my OW cert the necessity to maintain a buddy team was engrained in me. After a few years of diving in the ocean with insta-buddies I noticed that it was fading because some ocean divers just don't care, and after a while it can rub off on you.

When you've got a couple hundred dives logged then tell me.

ScubaPink is entitled to an opinion and should be respected unless she first disrespects someone else. Her limited diving history does not deny her the right to have an opinion or the right to express herself. If she were commenting on something beyond her training then we might have the right to be skeptical. However, as long as she is a certified OW diver she is entitled to comment on dives for which she is certified.

And for all we know the plan was for one diver to surface and the other to continue diving and both were in agreement.

That may well have been their plan...

 

[binobanana]

My Friend was there! He told me her dive buddy came out of the water without her because she kept shooting pictures!
After a while cops noticed, that the dive flag was in the middle of the boat channel after trying to get her attention the pulled her up!
My opinion it was just her time to go! Heart failure would be my guess

 

[ReefHound]

ScubaPink is entitled to an opinion and should be respected unless she first disrespects someone else. Her limited diving history does not deny her the right to have an opinion or the right to express herself. If she were commenting on something beyond her training then we might have the right to be skeptical. However, as long as she is a certified OW diver she is entitled to comment on dives for which she is certified.

No one denied her an opinion. My point was that, like with you, her views will likely change with experience. I don't know any diver with 200 dives who feels the same as they did with 10 dives.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

I came out of the water about half an hour after the women had been taken to the hospital and I can assure you that no one had much of an idea what had happened. The channel 5 TV guy was still at the scene and he had very little information about the incident.

As a guy who spent thirty years on the West Palm Beach Police dive team, with 17 years as the dive team commander I can tell you that the gear will be held and tested. Air quality, PSI left in the tank and so on.

most of the cases I worked with people this age resulted from medical problems, lack of gas or a combination of the two.

Regarding solo diving at the bridge, it is about the best place I know of in the area if you want to dive solo and you have the training.

Always sad to see this type of tragaty at the bridge or anywhere else.

Phil Rudin

 

[DandyDon]

Reefhound- I would not dive with that buddy more than once!

Me neither. If I am going to work at being a buddy, I want the other person to be one - from pre-dive check to exit & well check. If I have to look for one more than once on a dive, or get abandoned - then there is no safety factor. If we're going to be same ocean divers, fine - as long as I know where I stand, I can start my dive that way too.

But I carry a 19 cf pony on every trip, every plane, every dive. For others, I'd suggest finding a dependable person to dive with.

 

[divingsiren]

As I knew this diver, and had the unfortunate experience of being her buddy before.. I can honestly say this particular diver was an accident waiting to happen. I refused to dive with her months ago for multiple reasons, our dive club refused her to dive with us, and she was not medically cleared by her own doctors to continue diving.

I am saddened for her family, especially as this accident was so very avoidable.