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Man faces charges after
fellow skier died in collision
An Illinois man was hit so hard by another skier at Breckenridge
Ski Resort that his skis were knocked off and he slammed into a
tree five feet away, the victim's son said.
Richard Henrichs, 56, of Naperville, Ill.,
died of head injuries Sunday after being airlifted to Swedish Medical
Center in Englewood. Ryan Henrichs said his father, an advertising
salesman, still had a pulse when the ski patrol arrived.
Charges of first-degree assault
Robert Wills, 31, of Plymouth, England, was in jail Monday on suspicion
of first-degree assault and reckless endangerment. Bond was set
at $15,000. Unless he manages to raise the bail bond, Mr Wills faces
several weeks in jail until another court date is set. He is said
to be in low spirits. Jill Berman of the Summit County Sheriff's
Department said the victim's son told deputies that Wills hit his
father. She said investigators hadn't determined whether speed was
an issue.
"It is unclear at this point who had the right of way on the hill,"
said Berman. Skiers or snowboarders are required by Colorado law
to avoid hitting people skiing or snowboarding in front of or below
them.
Criminal negligence
Mr Wills appeared at Summit county court on Monday. He is receiving
help from British consular officials in Houston, Texas. The British
skier was originally detained on suspicion of first-degree assault
and reckless endangerment, but these charges were submitted to a
judge before Mr Henrichs died. They have now been changed to manslaughter.
The Summit county district attorney, Mark Hurlburt, who is reviewing
the case, said a charge of criminal manslaughter requires evidence
that a skier consciously disregarded the risk to others.
A charge of criminal manslaughter would require evidence that a
person consciously disregarded the risk to others, he said. For
the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, the prosecutor
would have to show that a person grossly deviated from the standard
of care. "The facts aren't that difficult to prove if there are
witnesses that can describe the conduct of the skiers," said James
Chalat, a Denver attorney and specialist in ski injury suits.
Previous cases
Only one person has been tried in Colorado in a skier death. Two
years ago a Vail Resorts lift operator became the first person sent
to jail because of a fatal skiing accident. Nathan Hall was convicted
of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a British carpenter.
He was skiing too fast for conditions when he hit Alan Cobb, who
died instantly of his head injuries. After Hall was convicted, Colorado
ski areas stepped up patrols and enforcement of rules against reckless
skiers. "Every year we try to do our best to tell people to obey
the skier safety law," said Dawn Doty of Breckenridge Ski Resort.
"We don't know at this point if they were skiing too fast."
Breckenridge is owned by Vail Resorts, which cracked down on reckless
skiing in 1999 after six deaths during a short period at its four
Colorado resorts. Two died in a collision in Breckenridge when a
16-year-old teen ski racer hit a 60-year-old art dealer who was
on a snowboard.
Rules of the piste
A spokeswoman for the Ski Club of Great Britain said prosecutions
following accidents due to reckless skiing were not uncommon in
the US and were becoming more usual in Europe. "The International
Ski Federation rules basically say the responsibility for avoiding
a collision lies with the skier or boarder coming from behind,"
she said. This is a really busy time of year and problems can arise
with new generation skis which make it possible for people to go
much faster before they have a lot of experience."
[Source: Travel Mole & Guardian]
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