A federal court recently denied the request for a rehearing from Captain Jerry Boylan, who was convicted of manslaughter following the deaths of 34 people in a tragic fire aboard his dive boat over Labor Day weekend in 2019. The fire occurred near the Channel Islands and remains the deadliest maritime disaster in California’s modern history.
Captain Boylan, 72, was sentenced in May 2024 to four years in federal prison. Despite this, Boylan remained free while appealing his conviction. However, with the latest court decision, it is likely that Boylan will soon begin serving his sentence. The 9th Circuit Court’s three-judge panel upheld his conviction, and Boylan’s attempt to have the case reheard was swiftly rejected.
Boylan, a licensed captain for 34 years, failed to appoint an overnight roving watch on the night of the fire, ignoring the Certificate of Inspection requirements that were visibly posted in his wheelhouse. He also neglected to conduct adequate fire safety drills. Prosecutors argued that his failure to implement these safety measures left his crew, who were poorly trained and panicked, unable to respond effectively as the fire spread. The blaze, which may have started in a trash can after 2:35 a.m., trapped passengers below deck in a windowless bunk room, cutting off their escape routes.
As the fire spread, one member of Boylan’s crew ran past a 50-foot fire hose overhead twice, and Boylan himself called in a Mayday at 3:14 a.m. before abandoning ship and jumping overboard. Prosecutors described his actions as abandonment during a life-threatening emergency.
Boylan’s defense team argued that the trial judge had misstated the law when explaining the standard required to prove guilt. They claimed that the term “misconduct” could have allowed the jury to convict Boylan on something less than gross negligence, which they argued was contrary to the legal standard needed for conviction. However, the 9th Circuit panel disagreed, ruling that the jury instructions had explicitly warned against convicting based on anything less than negligence, and emphasized that the evidence against Boylan was overwhelming.
In November 2023, after a two-week trial, a federal jury found Boylan guilty of gross negligence, which led to the deaths of 33 passengers and one crew member. The victims, who were trapped below deck as the boat burned, ultimately succumbed to smoke inhalation and asphyxiation. A brief video, recorded by one of the victims, captured their desperate attempts to escape the fire moments before they perished.
The 9th Circuit panel further elaborated on the horror of the disaster, noting that the victims, while trying to survive, managed to activate a fire extinguisher but were unable to escape. They died within minutes of Boylan’s Mayday call. The court also included the testimony of surviving crew members and expert analysis that described Boylan’s failure to ensure proper fire safety and his dereliction of duty as a captain.
At sentencing, Judge George Wu remarked that Boylan appeared “incredibly remorseful” and did not intend to harm anyone, though he acknowledged the difficulty of the case. Boylan’s attorneys argued that the fire had become an “unstoppable inferno” and claimed there was little he could have done once he woke up to find the boat in flames. They also pointed out that Boylan had followed company practice by not assigning anyone to overnight watch, a defense that prosecutors dismissed as an attempt to “blame your boss.”
The trial included disturbing testimony and graphic images, including a 24-second video recorded on a victim’s iPhone, showing the victims’ final moments. In the video, trapped passengers can be heard pleading for a way out, with some crying out, “We’re gonna die.” The emotional toll on the victims’ families was immense, as they were forced to confront the horror of their loved ones’ deaths.
Clark and Kathleen McIlvain, whose son Charles was among the victims, expressed relief at the court’s decision. “Captain Boylan hasn’t spent one day in custody, but he will finally be held accountable and serve his sentence,” they said in a statement. “We hope this sends a message to other captains that you will be held responsible for the lives under your watch.”
