Filmmaker Rob Stewart's family files wrongful death lawsuit

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This is a pretty standard play from plaintiff's attorneys in cases that have some public exposure. I'm not convinced it is generally effective, but many plaintiffs attorneys seem to be.

In this case, I think it is likely to be effective. Lawyers are storytellers, and they're simply laying the groundwork for the story they intend to tell. The story that the plaintiffs' attorneys will try to convince the jury of here will be that of a kind, caring, young life, stolen from us by a villainous crook. Frankly, both Stewart and Sotis's backstories fit relatively well into that narrative (note: I'm not calling Sotis a crook; I don't know nearly enough about him to do that. Just pointing out that his apparent felony conviction fits the narrative I expect we'll hear.)
 
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Would you explain this? I'm curious.

Although I've never been to Kashyyyk, years ago I frequently traveled on the Wookie vessel 'SPREE' during its time in the 'Lone Star Quadrant' and picked up some of their dialect (not to mention uber furballs, but that's another story).

The Sea Shepard group are a like-minded group whose animal/nature defense program parallels the work of the deceased, so it's a large blow to the overall 'defend the earth' efforts/publicity they both are/were trying to achieve, but they have no legal right to be involved in the deceased s legal case and can only offer moral support.
 
Although I've never been to Kashyyyk, years ago I frequently traveled on the Wookie vessel 'SPREE' during its time in the 'Lone Star Quadrant' and picked up some of their dialect (not to mention uber furballs, but that's another story).

The Sea Shepard group are a like-minded group whose animal/nature defense program parallels the work of the deceased, so it's a large blow to the overall 'defend the earth' efforts/publicity they both are/were trying to achieve, but they have no legal right to be involved in the deceased s legal case and can only offer moral support.
Has Sea Shepherd gotten involved besides possibly vocally? Haven't heard anything like that. I don't think any involvement other that expressing condolences is appropriate
 
This made for an interesting watch.
This isn't about the money: It's personal. They obviously want to inflict pain on Sotis for not helping afterwards. Oh, I'm sure money will be a large part of this suit. Not because the parents want to benefit on their tragedy, but because they want to inflict pain and make sure this doesn't happen again. It won't be pretty. Consequently, they are going to try this as much in the court of public opinion as anywhere else. It's going to leave a mark: that's for sure.
 
There are a number of "targets" or defendants who will be named. I would expect the rebreather manufacturer, the instructor, the initial instructor, the boat operator, the captain, and anyone else who touched Rob in the past 6 months.

As far as who is behind it? The folks from Sea Shepherd are pretty pissed off, but they have no standing.

Sea Shepherd? Why are they pretty pissed off? Do you mean from the perspective of his skills as a documentarian? I dunno, it just sounded weird to me, that they're "pretty pissed off". "Saddened" :(seems more appropriate to me.
 
When people die a preventable death, sometimes you can only be pissed off.

I'm still not too sure what to think about this... The blame does not only lie on AH (from what we seem to know there's some issues there), maybe it would have been their job to explain to an "experienced diver" that you don't "ninja dive to 300ft"...
 
Sea Shepherd? Why are they pretty pissed off? Do you mean from the perspective of his skills as a documentarian? I dunno, it just sounded weird to me, that they're "pretty pissed off". "Saddened" :(seems more appropriate to me.
So, you are right. Sea Shepherd isn't pissed, they don't have feelings. They are an organization/company. But if you read Pete Betheunes (sp?) facebook page, and the Sea Shepherd facebook page, and many members facebook pages, rebreathers, dive charters, and instructors are all a bunch of scummy bastards.

The dedicated one of their new boats in Miami the weekend before. Rob was in town for that. Then he took some diving lessons. Then some NOAA folks reported some sawfish on the QON. Rob diving on the QON was all kismet. Can kismet be bad?
 
The response from Sotis via an attorney prior to the suit being filed.

Concannon & Charles

David Concannon This is one of the two email statements I sent to CBC two hours before they published a story saying I did not respond to their email seeking comment. The reporter thanked me for my "swift response." Here is the text:

Although I have not been formally retained to defend this case (as far as we know, the complaint has not been filed and it has not been served, so the allegations could change), I have been asked to respond on Mr. Sotis’ behalf today. You may use the following quote with attribution:

This is an unfortunate incident involving the loss of Rob Stewart and Peter and Claudia Sotis are also grieving his loss. They have fully cooperated in the United States Coast Guard’s investigation and they are hoping an inspection of his diving equipment by the United States Navy will answer many of the unanswered questions regarding what happened to Mr. Stewart. For now, however, it is important to remember that there are two sides to every story and the truth is somewhere in the middle. Allegations in a lawsuit are not always truthful or accurate, and the litigation process tends to reveal facts that are not always represented when a complaint is filed. For example:

‹ The family alleges that Peter Sotis, Claudia Sotis and Add Helium were involved in the charter of the dive vessel Pisces from Horizon Divers. In fact, they had nothing to do with the charter. The vessel was chartered by Rob Stewart, Brock Cahill and their production company directly from Horizon Divers in early December 2016, and their plan was always to dive three dives each day. In fact, Horizon Divers moved the vessel further north to cut transit time to the wreck each day to allow the filmmakers to make three dives per day. Peter and Claudia Sotis were invited to participate in the charter by the filmmakers. As a commercial filming operation, the filmmakers and the dive boat owner both had legal duties to ensure the safety of everyone on board the vessel.

‹ The family alleges that Peter Sotis has a criminal record from a case dating back to 1991. This is true, but Mr. Stewart’s partner, Brock Cahill also has a criminal record from two cases in North Carolina in 1996 and 1997? Is this relevant? A jury will ultimately determine this, but it doesn’t seem to answer the question of what happened to Mr. Stewart on January 31, 2017.

‹ The family alleges that Horizon Divers, Peter Sotis, Claudia Sotis and Add Helium sent Mr. Stewart back down to the wreck with Mr. Sotis to retrieve the anchor. In fact, Peter Sotis, Claudia Sotis and Add Helium did not send Rob Stewart anywhere. The dive boat crew did not have the proper equipment to retrieve the anchor so Peter Sotis, a guest, volunteered to perform this crewman’s task for the dive boat. Mr. Stewart volunteered to accompany Mr. Sotis and he was told twice that this was not necessary, but Mr. Stewart insisted.

‹ On the final dive, the divers were performing a job for Horizon Divers, and Horizon Divers had a duty to ensure the safety of both divers while they were performing a task on behalf of the dive boat. Mr. Stewart also had a duty to ensure his own safety. The family alleges that Peter Sotis and Claudia Sotis had a duty to ensure Rob Stewart’s safety after the dive was completed but, if this was true, how could they do so when Mr. Sotis was incapacitated, his wife was attending to his needs, and the boat still had a captain, a mate and Mr. Stewart’s partner Brock Cahill to ensure Mr. Stewart’s safety?

‹ The family already knows, but its lawyers did not allege, that media reports about Mr. Stewart’s body being recovered by divers from the Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department are incorrect. In fact, Mr. Stewart’s body was recovered by the owner of Horizon Divers, the lawyer for Horizon Divers, and another employee of Horizon Divers. Brock Cahill and an unlicensed investigator that works for the attorney were on the Pisces, which was used to perform the recovery, while the divers were underwater. Why was it falsely reported that these individuals worked for the local fire department? Why did the owner of one of the key defendants, his employee and his lawyer recover the body? Has the family blessed this activity, which violates Florida law, as proper and, if so, why?

As I said, there are many unanswered questions involving the death of Mr. Stewart. Peter and Claudia Sotis look forward to a full airing of all the facts, and a thorough investigation to determine the truth.​
 
Funny how when the rest of the story comes out there are lots of parts that weren't included in the previous 30 pages of posts about it.....
 
It is going to be an interesting case.

Regardless of the "what" (in this case diving) I am always in favor of taking personal responsibility for your actions and their consequences. Having said that IMO (worth exactly what you paid for it) taking personal responsibility does not relieve someone else from their responsibility in whatever matter is at hand.

It would seem if the facts bear out that Mr. Sotis and his wife were not involved in the charter and they were invited to accompany the dive as guests that they are not going to be judged responsible for Mr. Stewart's death.

The boat/charter is going to be another story.
 
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