Law for special environments: ice islands and questions raised by the T-3 case

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Wilkes, Daniel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1972
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400062392; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400062392

On 10 May 1971, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found Mario Escamilla not guilty of second-degree murder on the high seas in the death of another American, Bennie Lightsy. The same jury convicted Escamilla of a lesser offence, involuntary manslaughter on the high seas, and he was sentenced to three years in the custody of the United States Attorney-General, a provision that permits probation after as little as 60 days. In fact, Escamilla has been free on bail pending the hearing of an appeal, brief for which will have been filed by 17 October 1971 to be argued before the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in late 1971 or early 1972.