State v. Far West Water & Sewer Inc.

228 P.3d 909 (2010)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Prior to the incident, D acquired the Mesa Del Oro Plant and hired Santec to renovate equipment in an underground sewage tank. Normally, the crew would pull the gravity line plug and exit the Tank before turning on the force main pump. Charles told Gamble to enter the Tank to pull out the gravity line plug once the Tank was about half-full of sewage. Charles then drove to the lift station, turned on the pumps and sewage began flowing into the Tank. As sewage was flowing into the Tank, Gamble climbed inside the Tank to unplug the gravity line. When the lower part of his body was in the Tank, he passed out and fell into the sewage. Garrett saw Gamble floating face down in the Tank. Garrett tied a rope around his waist, told Andre to hold it, and climbed down a ladder. Not able to get Gamble out of the Tank, Garrett tried to climb up the ladder but passed out before he reached the top. Lanser then climbed down the manhole in an attempt to rescue both Gamble and Garrett, passed out, and fell into the Tank. Charles was told to turn off the pumps and call 911. Charles rushed back to the Tank and entered it in an effort to rescue Gamble, Garrett, and Lanser. She, too, passed out but eventually regained consciousness. A D employee, James Gamble, and a Santec employee, Gary Lanser, died in an underground tank after they were overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas. They entered without proper equipment. Another D employee, Nathan Garrett, suffered severe injuries when he attempted to rescue Gamble from the tank. Other Far West and Santec employees were involved in rescue attempts, but none were injured to a significant degree. D was indicted for two counts of manslaughter, one count of aggravated assault, four counts of endangerment as to Gamble, Garrett, and two Santec employees, Shawn Hackbarth and Eric Andre, and one count of violating a safety standard or regulation that caused the death of Gamble. D's president, Brent Weidman, one of its forepersons, Connie Charles, and Santec were also indicted for the same or similar charges. Weidman has a master's degree in industrial engineering, a Ph.D. in construction engineering, and had been D's president and chief operating officer for nine years. Rex Noll, who had extensive training and experience in sewage and wastewater treatment plants, was the supervisor for the sewage division of Far West and reported directly to Weidman. The jury acquitted Far West of both counts of manslaughter as to Gamble and Lanser but found it guilty of one count of the lesser-included offense of negligent homicide for the death of Gamble, one count of aggravated assault as to Garrett, two counts of endangerment as to Gamble and Garrett, and one count of violating a safety standard or regulation that caused the death of Gamble. D appealed contending that Weidman and Noll were not managerial agents whose actions could be attributed to D and that those two parties did not possess the mens rea for the crimes.