Witness recounts fatal boat crash on Payette Lake

The last time Johnnie Catlin saw his mother alive he had just pulled her up to the hull of a partially submerged boat that crashed on Payette Lake the night of Aug. 13.

He also pulled his wife and two daughters - one of whom was sitting in his lap before the crash - out of the water.

Catlin's mom, Linda, 61, didn't know how to swim and wasn't wearing a life jacket.

So she stayed behind with the boat while her son and daughter-in-law got to an island and performed CPR on their daughter, Madison, 1, who was having trouble breathing.

The first public eyewitness account of the accident came during a 4Ý-hour hearing in Valley County Court on Tuesday on whether the driver of the boat, Ronald Stevens, should face trial on two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Catlin's mother and his brother, Shane Catlin, 41, died as a result of the crash. Shane was found at the bottom of the lake. Linda was found floating on the surface; she died of hypothermia.

Valley County Judge Henry Boomer determined Tuesday that there is enough evidence to take Stevens, 54, to trial.

Stevens will be arraigned in District Court in Cascade at 9 a.m. Dec. 18. If he pleads not guilty, the case will go to trial.

Stevens' attorney, Mark Manweiler, mounted a vigorous defense of the boater's actions, arguing that he was misled by the two flashing lights on the danger buoys near the rock.

Valley County Marine Patrol Sgt. Jason Speer said in court that the hazard buoys had the wrong lights in them and should have been flashing about 60 times per minute. The lights were flashing about 15 times per minute.

Manweiler argued that Stevens wasn't able to navigate the buoys because he didn't know where the rock was in relation to the two buoys - one was 68 feet away, the other 671 feet. He said there should have been more buoys around the rock.

"Don't you think the Valley County Sheriff's Office bears some responsibility for that accident?" Manweiler pressed Nez Perce County Marine Patrol Sgt. Jay Colvin, a certified marine crash reconstructionist.

Valley County Prosecutor Matthew Williams argued that there is no law that requires danger buoys to have lights.

There were about 40 people in the courtroom in Cascade on Tuesday. At least two women wept as Williams questioned Speer. about that night.

The crash occurred at about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 13. Stevens, who was Linda Catlin's boyfriend, was taking the family on a moonlight cruise.

There were 12 people on the 23-foot Malibu ski boat, including four kids ranging in age from 1 to 13. The group was headed back from the north end of the lake when the boat crashed into a rock near Little Cougar Island, also known as Channel Island.

There were two coolers filled with alcohol on the boat. More than four hours after the crash, Stevens tested negative for alcohol and drugs.

Williams said Tuesday that Stevens was negligent for numerous reasons, including: failure to have a lookout watching for hazards; failure to keep the boat at a speed slow enough to avoid hazards; failure to heed a flashing hazard buoy near the rock; failure to have life jackets in a readily accessible place; and failure to have enough life jackets in the boat for everyone aboard.

Valley County sheriff's investigators were able to locate only eight life vests from the boat. They were in plastic and stowed in the seats. One of the children on the boat was found to have had a life jacket on. Johnnie Catlin used that one to swim to shore.

No other life jackets were found by investigators, but Manweiler said that doesn't mean they weren't on the boat at the time of the crash.

Katy Moeller: 377-6413