United States v. Danehy

680 F.2d 1311 (11th Cir. 1982)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

A distress call came into the Coast Guard Station and two Coast Guard personnel were dispatched in a seventeen-foot, open deck, tri-hulled craft to search for the distressed vessel. D, his wife, and his neighbors were cruising in the Intracoastal Waterway aboard D's twenty-eight-foot sport fisherman, the Not for Fishing. The two vessels met and the Coast Guardsmen claim they hailed D's vessel and inquired whether it was overdue. D and those on his boat claimed no conversation ever took place and that they merely saw a small unlit vessel hovering in the shadows. Contact was soon broken off with D going north and the Coast Guardsmen heading south. The Coast Guard craft turned back to the north and they claim that D's boat attempted to ram them. They maneuvered their vessel out of the way, and D began steering his boat in circles, causing the Coast Guard boat's motor to cavitate forcing it to stop dead in the water. The Coast Guardsmen claim that D's vessel headed directly towards them, only turning away when they displayed their weapons. D has a completely different version of the events. Both sides are agreed that D ran aground. D and his passengers give a different account of these events. They claim that the Coast Guard boarded without warning or requesting permission and with drawn weapons. D was ordered on deck and after a considerable period arrested. He claims he was handcuffed and forced to kneel. He asserts that when he attempted to stand he was knocked down and that he never attempted to kick anyone. D claims that he passively resisted and remained limp, thereby forcing the Coast Guardsmen to carry him off the vessel. D was tried and convicted. D claims he should have been allowed to introduce evidence of his reputation for truthfulness as his credibility had been attacked.