CASCADE - Despite the protests of his defense attorney, Ronald Stevens will stand trial for the death of his girlfriend and her son.
Both were killed during a boating accident this summer in McCall.
During the preliminary hearing earlier this week in Cascade, Stevens took the stand, as the did Johnnie Catlin, who lost his mother and his brother when Stevens' boat rammed into some rocks on Payette Lake.
It happened on Aug. 13 during a family outing that will be remembered as one of the worst accidents in Payette Lake history.
A boat carrying eight adults and four children crashed into rocks on the north end of the lake.
"Ron mentioned doing a little moonlight cruise that night," said Catlin. "As we turned around and started to head back, very shortly after that is when we ended up hitting the rock."
Catlin was on that boat and survived the crash. It was his 61-year-old mother, Linda, and his 41-year-old brother, Shane, who were killed.
Inside a Valley County courtroom, he testified on one of the key issue in this case was the fact that no one, not even a one-year-old child, was wearing a life jacket. For that, the state blames the boat's owner and driver, 54-year-old Ronald Stevens.
"Had anything been said about life jackets between when everybody was on the boat and when you hit the rock?" asked Valley County Prosecutor Matt Williams.
"No," replied Catlin.
"Did you know where any of the life jackets on the boat were?" asked Williams.
"No," stated Catlin.
When the boat capsized, Catlin says everyone was thrown into the water.
"I told my wife, we're going to have to swim to this island over here, (the boat is) not going to hold us. I said 'mom can't swim so, she's going to need to stay here,'" said Catlin. "We end up yelling for an hour or so help. Finally, after a while, I said 'I've got to go swim and get help.'"
It would be more than two hours before help could be reached and by then, two would be dead.
Stevens is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. His attorney argued the rocks were improperly marked and that life jackets were available to anyone who wanted one.
But when Stevens took the stand, the prosecutor once again pressed the issue of accessibility.
"The life jackets were accessible to you, right?" asked Williams.
"Yes," said Stevens.
"So why didn't you grab one when the boat crashed?" asked Williams.
"I did. When the boat was rolling over, I had pulled up the front and I was trying to get them out. The boat was floating, that's what I was trying to do," said Stevens.
"Which one did you grab, sir?" asked Williams.
"I never got any of them," said Stevens.
"You were unable to get any of the life jackets, correct?" asked Williams.
"Correct," said Stevens.
"So, it's fair to say they weren't accessible to you because you were unable to get them," said Williams.
"The accident happened pretty fast," said Stevens.
It will likely be up to a jury to decide if the deaths in this case were due to negligence or if this was simply a tragic accident.
Stevens is scheduled to enter his plea on Dec. 18. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
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