Judge Rejects Murder Charges Related to Death of Boy on Kansas Waterslide: NPR

A Kansas county judge dismissed charges of murder and other criminal charges against designers and operators of a 17-storey water slide, saying a grand jury had heard inappropriate evidence in the case of a boy killed in a water park Schlitterbahn.

Caleb Schwab, 10, was beheaded on 7 August 2016 when the raft on which he boarded the Verrückt toboggan crashed into the air and hit a metal post supporting a safety net. Two women who accompanied her on the raft were also injured at Kansas City Park in Kan.

The two main designers of the toboggan, Jeffrey Wayne Henry, co-owner of Schlitterbahn, and John Timothy Schooley, had been accused of reckless second-degree murders at serious battery acts. Tyler Austin Miles, director of park operations, and Schlitterbahn Waterparks & Resorts have also been indicted for manslaughter.

But all of these charges were dismissed after Justice Robert P. Burns on Friday declared his agreement with the defendants 'lawyers who had alleged that Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt – whose office had taken over the prosecutors' case of Wyandotte County – had abused the grand jury tainted the indictments by showing images of jurors from a Travel Channel TV show that highlighted the dangers of the ride, and calling a witness who gave a doubtful testimony.

Burns agreed that, as the video footage was not designed to reflect the real risks of the trip, it could have harmed the grand jury.

As reported by member station KCUR, the judge also noted that "the state expert witness has repeatedly referred to technical standards not required by Kansas law at the time of Verrückt's construction; in Texas in 2013. "

The Verrückt – German for "insane" – opened to the public in summer 2014, less than two years after its design.

The charges against Henry and Schooley allege that the couple "lacks technical skills to design a slide that works properly" and uses "rudimentary methods of testing and mistakes" before putting the slide into service, adds KCUR.

"If we really knew how to do that and it could be done easily, it would not be as dramatic," Schooley said according to court documents released last year.

The toboggan has been presented as the largest in the world, with a height of more than 150 meters. It included a steep initial drop and a secondary hump – and the runners tied in the rafts reached a speed of about 65 mph. After Caleb's death, the park was not able to demolish the slide until the end of the investigation. The demolition process began last fall.

Caleb had gone to the park during a special promotional day for government officials and their families. His father, Scott Schwab, was a member of the state House of Representatives at the time and is now Kansas State Secretary.

The Schwab family has already settled with the water park a settlement of nearly $ 20 million that ended a civil lawsuit.

The rejection of the charges is the last setback for Schmidt's office in this high-profile case; Two of the park attendants were acquitted of criminal charges last October.

On Friday, the Kansas Attorney General issued a statement in which he said: "We are obviously disappointed and respectfully disagree with the court's decision". Schmidt added that he will "review the decision carefully" and determine whether or not new criminal charges should be laid, which, according to the court, remained an option.

To bring new charges, the Attorney General's office could again appeal to a grand jury – which is rare in Kansas – or simply ask a judge to decide if there is a probable cause of new charges against Schlitterbahn , its employees and / or any other person. involved in the Verrückt toboggan.

Since the state attorney general took the case in hand, Wyandotte County has paid Schmidt's office "over $ 125,000 in expenses reimbursed until November," reports the Kansas City Star.