5/7/2023 0 Comments Found not guilty![]() More than 60 people, including about 40 sailors, were treated for minor injuries during four days of fighting flames on the 844-foot-long (257-meter) warship, which was docked for maintenance at its homeport at U.S. Had Mays been found guilty, he could have faced life in prison. "The Navy is committed to upholding the principles of due process and a fair trial," Robertson said. Defense lawyers said lithium-ion batteries or a spark from a short on a forklift could have been to blame. The decision followed a two-week court-martial in which Navy prosecutors argued that Mays, who was 19 at the time of the blaze, started the fire due to disgruntlement with his work. Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays was acquitted of charges of arson and the willful hazarding of a ship, Commander Sean Robertson, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy sailor was found not guilty on Friday of starting a fire that destroyed the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard in San Diego in 2020. This article was originally published on NBCNews.Sept 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. “But, in criminal trials, military or civilian, the question is not ‘did the accused do it?/ but, ‘Can the government prove that he did it?’ “I am beyond surprised,” he said by email. West Point law professor Gary Solis said he was surprised to see the Navy fail to prosecute after two years. "I'm looking forward to starting over," he said. Mays on Friday said his Navy career had been "ruined" by the accusations. In late 2020, the Navy decided it would be more cost-efficient to scrap the $1 billion ship than to rebuild it. ![]() Marines during combat missions, remained watertight. The 840-foot vessel, which displaces roughly 41 tons and was designed to help land U.S. Seventeen sailors and four civilians were injured in the fire that gutted at least 60 percent of the ship. “There was no evidence of Mays being an arsonist.” “To blame losing a ship on a former Navy SEAL candidate because he was considered ‘disgruntled’ is one of the most evil things the Navy could do,” the nonprofit’s president, Teri Caserta, said in a statement. On Friday, the Washington, D.C.-based Brandon Caserta Foundation, founded to promote mental health in the military castigated the Navy for pursuing the case against Mays. ![]() His defense team said Mays was no more disgruntled than any other sailor assigned to cleanup duties, as he was. He was assigned to the USS Bonhomme Richard after dropping out of SEALs training, and Navy prosecutors said in charging documents he was "disgruntled" as a result. He was demoted to seaman recruit from the rank of seaman apprentice Jan. Mays, who was 19 when the fire started and sent smoke over San Diego for days, remains with the Navy. Boyle, a spokesman for U.S 3rd Fleet, said, "the Navy is committed to upholding the principles of due process and a fair trial." "There are questions about whether Ryan Mays started this fire," he said in mid-September. Gary Barthel, a civilian lawyer who served as a consultant for the defense, said questions about the fire's origin never seemed to be answered by the Navy. The total destruction was preventable, the command investigation concluded. The presence of contemporary tinder - lithium ion batteries near cardboard boxes - may have contributed to the fire's intensity and reach, investigators found. Sailors weren't properly trained and ready for the calamity, it said. Nearly 90% of its fire stations weren't working the morning of the fire, the agency said. The ship was home to hazardous materials improperly stored, clutter and fire lines that were missing, the investigation found.
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