Where Was the Outcry? Orchestrated Much?

There's certainly been a great deal of Facebook outrage recently concerning who has and hasn't been indicted in a recent boating accident. Is it surprising? Yes. Why? Glad you asked:

In October 2017, Kevin Doherty was struck by a hit and run driver as he attempted to navigate his way home in a motorized wheelchair. There was little doubt that the accident itself was caused by Mr. Doherty's actions, but the driver who had a record of DUIs fled the scene without giving aid as Mr. Doherty lay dying in the gutter and waited four days to turn herself in. A Lauderdale grand jury failed to indict. Where was the outrage?

In August of last year, a Franklin County woman placed two young children on an ATV meant to seat only the driver. The foster mother provided no helmet or other protective gear for the youngsters before she took off over rough terrain on what would appropriately be called a joy ride and then crashed. While the children's biological parents are suing Franklin County, the county has failed even to attempt to indict the careless woman who killed these "two precious souls." Where is the outrage?

We're going to guess that neither the Dohertys nor the Hartlines had the PR connections Trey Wooten's family has. 

Facts to Ponder on Boat Crash/14 Minutes

In the "For What It's Worth" department, a reader has sent us some snippets of the ALEA accident report on the Shoal Creek boat crash. According to the cabin cruiser's GPS, the speeding ski boat hit the cruiser at 10:34. The first 911 call made it to the switchboard at 10:48. Assuming it took at least one minute to retrieve a cell phone (a very conservative estimate) and one minute for the call to go through, you have at least a 12 minute delay in reporting the accident. Let's hope more information comes out during grand jury testimony.

Now some interesting points to ponder from a local boating expert:

1. While Shoal Creek may not be 60 feet deep at Robbins Island, it is approximately 50 feet deep.

2. A 30 foot cabin cruiser can't dock at just any small pier along the waterway. Most of these family docks are for bass and ski boats and can't accommodate a cabin cruiser. Similarly, the docks are not lit and would not allow for checking for a breach to the hull. 

3. On a cabin cruiser of any size, it's almost impossible to see damage to the hull from simply looking from the deck above.

The grand jury will meet in a little over one week. Afterwards, what will the Shoals talk about? 

The Optical Illusion "Gossip"

Missing Wilson Dam Video? Really?

If you follow any online controversy long enough, you’re going to see at least one person, and probably several, resort to telling an outright lie to make a point or win an argument. Anyone who keeps up with local news is familiar with the June 8th Shoal Creek boat crash that claimed two lives. The man whom forensics prove is responsible for the crash has been indicted and will face the legal music.

But don’t think that’s an end to the controversy. The operator of the second boat involved in the crash (Mark McBryer) waited several minutes to report the accident and also removed his boat from the immediate scene. Now we have even more theories as to why this second boater behaved as he did. One theory is that his brother-in-law or similarly well to do person was on the cabin cruiser and didn’t want to have to testify in court. Read enough of this bilge and you’ll find references to swingers and cocaine smuggling - yes, it’s that bad.

It’s been suggested that since the cabin cruiser had locked through Wilson Dam, there would be CCTV footage of the vessel. This sounds logical, although it’s illogical to think that it would prove who may have been on the boat. Since it was a cabin cruiser, some occupants may have been obscured from view.

The rumor? The CCTV footage was subpoenaed and has now disappeared. Let’s look more closely at this not too compelling “fact” making the rounds.

First, the only entities who would have reason to subpoena the footage are the marine police/district attorney’s office, and that’s a great stretch. No matter who may or may not have been on the cabin cruiser when it cleared the lock, the only person of interest to the district attorney is who was actually operating the vessel when it left the scene.

Second, the only party that could have arranged for the footage to disappear would have been a part of or employed by the federal government. Yes, the lock is under the control of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and TVA is owned by the federal government. Who amongst us thinks the federal government would become involved in some cover up of a minor Lauderdale County crime?

To recap, the only place we’ve seen this tale of the disappearing footage is on Facebook and a local blog, we have to ask who would have subpoenaed the footage, and finally why would the federal government choose to help cover up any crime of this nature...assuming a crime has taken place.

However, it does make for good entertainment - at least to all of us except the McBryer family.

Makes Perfect Sense To Us!