Staff sergeant acquitted in drowning case
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  1. #1

    Exclamation Staff sergeant acquitted in drowning case

    September 13, 2006
    Staff sergeant acquitted in drowning case

    By Gidget Fuentes
    Staff writer

    OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A military judge on Monday acquitted a staff sergeant who was charged with dereliction of duty in the 2005 drowning death of a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.

    Lt. Col. Jeffrey G. Meeks ruled during a special court martial that “the evidence presented provided insufficient proof” to find Staff Sgt. Duane D. Dishon guilty, a depot spokeswoman, Maj. Kristen Lasica, said Tuesday in a news release.

    Meeks found that testimony by witnesses determined that Dishon “was no longer the staff noncommissioned officer in charge” of the depot’s water training facility at the time of Staff Sgt. Andrew Jason Gonzales’ death, Lasica stated.

    Gonzales, a 30-year-old from Houston, Texas, died Aug. 1, 2005, in the second week of a conditioning course designed to prepare him to attend a formal course in Coronado, Calif., that certifies Marines to become instructors in water survival training. He drowned early that morning in an unofficial prep that one investigating officer had described as poorly supervised, lacking in safety measures and “a colossal failure.”

    Dishon at one point had been in the position of the staff NCOIC of the pool, which was overseen by Instructional Training Company, but was transitioning from that position, and questions arose during earlier Article 32 hearings whether he was in the leadership position at the time of Gonzales’ death.

    Dishon is one of four Marines initially charged in the case. The company commander at the time, Capt. Vincent Guida, was acquitted in May on a charge of dereliction of duty.

    The two swim instructors — Staff Sgts. David J. Roughan and Fernando Galvan — are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide and dereliction of duty in Gonzales’ death at separate general courts-martial that begin Oct. 3 for Roughan and Oct. 16 for Galvan.

    Ellie


  2. #2
    Marine is cleared of charge in drowning during safety class

    2 others await courts-martial
    By Rick Rogers
    UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

    September 14, 2006

    One of four Marines charged in the drowning at the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot in August 2005 was found not guilty Tuesday of dereliction of duty.

    Staff Sgt. Duane D. Dishon was cleared of the single charge against him stemming from the death of 30-year-old Staff Sgt. Andrew Gonzales, who died while he and other Marines trained for a water safety course.

    Military judge Lt. Col. Jeffrey G. Meeks granted the defense's motion for a finding of not guilty due to insufficient evidence, according to a recruit depot spokeswoman. Had he been convicted, Dishon could have been sentenced to a year in prison and dismissed from the service.

    Marines in Gonzales' class testified that their instructors encouraged and participated in life-threatening rough-and-tumble training.

    The Marine Corps examined its entire swim program after the death.

    Gonzales died after initially refusing to enter the pool on the morning of Aug. 1, 2005, because he feared for his life.

    Michelle Gonzales said her husband, a former drill instructor, had told her he had nearly drowned in an earlier training session.

    The Marine Corps charged Staff Sgts. David J. Roughan and Fernando Galvan with manslaughter, negligent homicide and dereliction of duty. The two were said to be in the pool with Gonzales when he drowned.

    Dishon and Capt. Vincent M. Guida were charged with dereliction of duty.

    The case took an unusual turn when an independent investigating officer examining the drowning blamed Gonzales' death on systemic failures and “colossal” lapses in safety.

    In a blunt assessment, Lt. Col. Paul L. Starita mentioned “failure” six times in summarizing mistakes leading to Gonzales' drowning.

    “This case is absolutely tragic because Staff Sgt. Gonzales' death was preventable (It) resulted from an institutional failure,” Starita, an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego, wrote.

    “To lay the blame for Gonzales' death at the feet of Galvan and Roughan, while convenient, fails to address the much larger problem that ultimately led to Gonzales' death, a failure of the command to develop and then supervise” safety protocol, Starita wrote.

    In June, a recruit depot spokesman said Guida had been given a punitive letter of reprimand that virtually ended his military career.

    Michelle Gonzales said the trials of Roughan and Galvan will determine whether there is justice for her husband's death.

    Roughan is scheduled to be tried Oct. 3. Galvan's court-martial is set to begin Oct. 16.

    Eight Marines and recruits have died at the San Diego depot since 1998.

    Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com



    Ellie


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