IN-Grandfather charged cruise ship death of Chloe Wiegand MEDIA TIMELINE NO DISCUSSION

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NEW DOCS @Kindred (thanks)

Ok three docs got filed last night.

COURT ORDER RULING ON DEFENDANTS MOTION TO DISMISS, PLAINTIFFS MOTION TO STRIKE VIDEO/FOR EXTENSION TO FILE RESPONSE/MOTION TO FILE PRELIMINARY RESPONSE
Filed 2/5/20

Court Order 2-6-20.pdf

6 pages. Everything is denied.


PLAINTIFFS’NOTICE OF SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORITY
Filed 2/5/20 after the Court Order came out
2 seperate documents to it

Notice of Supplemental Authority.pdf

This one I can actually post the entirety right here. It's the following paragraph:

"The Plaintiffs, ALAN WIEGAND, et al., by and through undersigned counsel, hereby providethis Honorable Courtthe following supplemental authority concerningDefendant, ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.’S Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint [D.E. 7]and Plaintiffs’response in opposition [D.E. 18]–Orderdenying the cruise line’s Motion to Dismiss in the case of Marabella v. NCL (Bahamas), Ltd., 19-CV-25185, 2020 WL 533987 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 3, 2020)(attached as Exhibit 1)."

Plaintiff Filing Marabella v NCL.pdf

6 page photocopy of a ruling from Marabella v Norwegian Cruise Lines
 
Posted by @Kindred, post # 1284

NEW DOCUMENT

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.’S AMENDED MOTION TO DISMISS THE COMPLAINT FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION
Case 1:19-cv-25100-DLG
Document 30 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/12/2020

New Motion to Dismiss 2-13.pdf

23 PAGES

Reading through it now but for the most part, appears to be the same as the previous motion to dismiss just without the parts about the video and the photos.
 
Grandfather who dropped toddler to her death from Royal Caribbean ship window asks for bench trial | Daily Mail Online

Feb 24, 2020

The grandfather accused of dropping Indiana toddler Chloe Wiegand to her death from a cruise ship window will stand trial in April.

Salvatore 'Sam' Anello faces a charge of negligent homicide over the little girl's fatal plunge from the 11th deck of the Freedom of the Seas as it docked in Puerto Rico last July.

Anello was in court on Monday in San Juan to say he wants a bench trial in front of a judge rather than a jury.

[..]

'Yes, yes, I understand,' Anello repeated in English, when judge Gisela Alfonso Fernandez asked him to confirm he did not want a jury.

The judge gave Perez Ortiz more time to prepare a defense for the elderly IT worker, but said the trial will proceed on April 2 and run for four days.

[..]

Negligent homicide is a misdemeanor but can be punished with a three-year prison sentence under the Puerto Rican criminal code.

But if Anello is found guilty, prosecutors will likely recommend a period of probation that can be completed in his native Indiana, DailyMail.com has learned.

[..]

Police officer Alan, 41, and his attorney wife Kimberly, 37, could claim 'unlimited' damages for pain and mental suffering if their suit, filed in Miami federal court, succeeds.

However they say their sole motivation is to force Royal Caribbean to make their windows safer on the Freedom of the Seas so Chloe's fatal fall is never repeated.

Royal Caribbean has tried unsuccessfully to have the case thrown out, presenting harrowing video footage of Chloe's last moments to argue that Anello poked his head through the window and 'unquestionably' knew it was open.

The company denies breaching industry safety standards, insisting Anello would only have had to rely on his 'basic senses' to realize he was endangering his beloved granddaughter.

 
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- An Indiana man accused of dropping his granddaughter from an 11th floor window of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico last year has changed his plea to guilty the day after he declined his right to a jury trial.

Salvatore Anello, who is charged with negligent homicide in the death of 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand.

His attorney filed the change of plea Tuesday, ABC News reports. A hearing date has not yet been set.

Anello's attorney released a statement, saying, "This decision was an incredibly difficult one for Sam and the family, but because the plea agreement includes no jail time and no admission of facts, it was decided the plea deal is in the best interests of the family so that they can close this horrible chapter and turn their focus to mourning Chloe and fighting for cruise passenger safety by raising awareness about the need for all common carriers to adhere to window fall prevention laws designed to protect children from falling from windows."
Indiana grandfather charged in cruise ship death of toddler in Puerto Rico changes plea to guilty
 
Indiana grandfather charged in cruise ship death of toddler in Puerto Rico changes plea to guilty

Feb 25, 2020

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- An Indiana man accused of dropping his granddaughter from an 11th floor window of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico last year has changed his plea to guilty the day after he declined his right to a jury trial.
[..]

His attorney filed the change of plea Tuesday, ABC News reports. A hearing date has not yet been set.
[..]

Anello's attorney released a statement, saying, "This decision was an incredibly difficult one for Sam and the family, but because the plea agreement includes no jail time and no admission of facts, it was decided the plea deal is in the best interests of the family so that they can close this horrible chapter and turn their focus to mourning Chloe and fighting for cruise passenger safety by raising awareness about the need for all common carriers to adhere to window fall prevention laws designed to protect children from falling from windows."
[..]

The defendant filed a motion yesterday afternoon expressing his intent to plead guilty and asking for a hearing date where the Court may accept his change of plea. Anello's decision to so proceed is wholly within his discretion and will become binding only upon his appearing before the Court to voluntarily plead guilty."

Wiegand's family has sued the cruise ship company, accusing it of negligence by allowing the window in the ship's children's play area to be open.
 
Man will plead guilty in granddaughter's cruise ship death to "end part of this nightmare"
FEBRUARY 26, 2020 / 7:42 AM / CBS NEWS
The Indiana man whose 18-month-old granddaughter Chloe Wiegand fell to her death from the window of a cruise ship in Puerto Rico last year will plead guilty to negligent homicide. Salvatore Anello initially pleaded not guilty, but he was offered a deal that spares him from going to jail and from having to admit to the facts of the case as alleged by prosecutors.
Snipped
 
NEW DOCUMENT

PLAINTIFFS’ RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT’S AMENDED MOTION TO DISMISS COMPLAINT FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION [D.E. 30]
Case 1:19-cv-25100-DLG Document 31
Entered on FLSD Docket 02/26/2020 22 PAGES

reponse to amended motion to dismiss.pdf
 
NEW DOCUMENT

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.’S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF ITS AMENDED MOTION TO DISMISS THE COMPLAINT FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CAUSE OF ACTIONCase 1:19-cv-25100-DLG
Document 32 Entered on FLSD Docket 03/04/2020 14 Pages

32 - RCCL Response 3-4.pdf
Snipped

"The Court should summarily deny Plaintiffs’ improper request for leave to amend embedded in the Response because they fail to attach a proposed pleading or point to any evidence showing that amendment would not be futile because of the lack of notice."
....
"The Complaint fails to allege that a passenger has ever done what Mr. Anello did. This is because any reasonable person would have 1) not placed an 18-month old child where he did, and 2) would have perceived with their ordinary senses that the window, open to the outside light, noise and air, was open."

"An open window is obvious, the danger of falling out of it is obvious, the danger of picking up an 18-month old child and placing her almost four feet above the deck of a ship and beyond a railing is obvious, the danger of losing grip of an 18-month old child in such a position is obvious. Resolution of these points is appropriate on the MTD, and they demonstrate why the Complaint should be dismissed
The status conference is next Wednesday morning. March 11
 
Schedule for the civil trial:

SCHEDULING ORDER SETTING PRETRIAL CONFERENCE AND TRIAL DATES Case No. 19-25100-CIV-GRAHAM/MCALILEY
Filed 3/13 9 Pages

*I'm not going to post the full document because it's mostly instructions for the lawyers and isn't really pertinent to our interests here, but it is document #37 on the docket here. I can provide links if anyone is really curious about it but trust me, it's very dull compared to the spicy filings we were previously seeing between the parties. Here are the meat and potatoes, snipped for brevity:

From Page 1:

"1. The trial of this cause is set and placed on the two-week trial calendar beginning December 21, 2020.

2. The pretrial conference will be held telephonically at 2:00 p.m. on November 18, 2020. 1

3. The call of the calendar will be held telephonically at 2:00 p.m. on December 16, 2020.1"

Page 7-9

"The following timetable shall govern the pretrial procedure in this case. This schedule shall not be modified absent compelling circumstances.

March 30, 2020 Deadline for Amended Pleadings and Deadline to effectuate service on joined parties.

August 28, 2020 Deadline to exchange expert witness information pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(2). Only those expert witnesses who have been properly identified and who have exchanged information in compliance with FRCP 26(a)(2) shall be permitted to testify.

September 9, 2020 Deadline to exchange rebuttal expert witness information pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(2). Only those rebuttal expert witnesses who have been properly identified and who have exchanged information in compliance with FRCP 26(a)(2) shall be permitted to testify.

October 9, 2020 All discovery must be completed.

October 16, 2020 All Pretrial Motions, Memoranda of Law, Motions to Strike Expert Testimony/Daubert Motions must be filed.

October 30, 2020 Deadline for all responses to motions (including responses to motions for summary judgment).

November 6, 2020 Deadline for all replies to motions (including replies to motions for summary judgment).

November 13, 2020 Joint Pretrial Stipulation must be filed.

November 27, 2020 Deadline for pretrial Motions in Limine.

December 4, 2020 Deadline for oppositions to Motions in Limine.

December 11, 2020 Jury Instructions and Verdict Forms or Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and Proposed voir dire questions.
 
Grandfather pleads guilty in Puerto Rico cruise ship death

Oct 15, 2020

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A grandfather accused in the fatal fall of his young granddaughter from an 11th-story window of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico last year pleaded guilty Thursday to negligent homicide.

[..]

Puerto Rico prosecutor Laura Hernández said Anello would be sentenced Dec. 10.

“We have found justice for Chloe,” she said.

Defense attorney Michael Winkleman said in a statement that Anello will not face any jail time and that he will serve probation in Indiana.

“This decision was an incredibly difficult one for Sam and the family, but because the plea agreement includes no jail time and no admission of facts, it was decided the plea deal is in the best interests of the family so that they can close this horrible chapter and turn their focus to mourning Chloe and fighting for cruise passenger safety,” he said.

[..]

“I wasn’t drinking and I wasn’t dangling her out of a window,” he said in a previous statement. He said he is colorblind and might not have realized the tinted window was open.

The girl’s parents sued Royal Caribbean last year and accused the company of negligence. In response, Royal Caribbean said that surveillance video shows Anello leaning out the window for about eight seconds before lifting the girl by and out of the open window for 34 seconds before he lost his grip. The family said it would have been physically impossible for Anello to lean out like that.

The civil case is ongoing.

Royal Caribbean did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
 
Cruise ship toddler death: Chloe Wiegand's grandfather pleads guilty

Oct 15, 2020

According to a family attorney, Salvatore "Sam" Anello pleaded guilty Thursday in Puerto Rico to negligent homicide. He was holding 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand when she slipped from his grasp and fell from the 11th-floor window of a ship docked in Puerto Rico in 2019.

Attorney Michael Winkleman said in statement that there will be no jail time and probation will be served in Indiana, where the toddler's family lives.

[..]

Winkleman said the plea agreement has no impact on the family's ongoing civil lawsuit against Royal Caribbean. The family claims the cruise line was negligent for failing to provide safety features on the windows.

[..]

"We are deep into the process of discovery in the Civil case having already taken several depositions and numerous upcoming depositions including the Captain of the ship," Winkleman said. "Sadly, all of the discovery and evidence taken so far in the case confirms that this was a tragic, preventable accident and that there are absolutely no grounds to bring criminal charges against Sam Anello."

He added that the question of why Royal Caribbean allowed the window to be open without warning remains unanswered.

"We will continue the fight for justice for Chloe and to hold Royal Caribbean accountable for its brazen failure to follow the standards designed precisely to prevent children from falling out of windows," he said.

In a motion to dismiss the civil lawsuit filed earlier this year, Royal Caribbean blamed Anello, calling him "reckless and irresponsible."

"His actions, which no reasonable person could have foreseen, were reckless and irresponsible and the sole reason why Chloe is no longer with her parents," the cruise line said.

The filing also claims Surveillance video shows Anello leaning out of the open window for about eight seconds just moments before he lifted the little girl.

"This is a case about an adult man," Royal Caribbean said in its motion, "who, as surveillance footage unquestionably confirms: (1) walked up to a window he was aware was open; (2) leaned his upper body out the window for several seconds; (3) reached down and picked up Chloe; and (4) then held her by and out of the open window for thirty four seconds before he lost his grip and dropped Chloe out of the window."
 
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