Chute v. United States

466 F. Supp. 61, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14092
District Court, D. Massachusetts·Decided November 30, 1978·No. Civ. A. 72-3412-F·Published·Cited by 19 cases

Opinion

OPINION

FREEDMAN, District Judge.

After a trial by this court on the issue of liability in the above entitled action, the defendant, the United States, was held liable for the wrongful deaths of Dr. James L. Chute and Mr. Harlan L. Matthews, guest passengers on the yacht, the AD LIB II, which sank on September 30, 1971 in Nantucket Sound when it struck the wreck of a Navy ship, the PC1203. 1 The plaintiffs, James A. Chute, the son and the administrator of the estate of Dr. Chute, and Helen L. Dotteridge, the daughter and the administratrix of the estate of Mr. Matthews, now seek an award of damages. Specifically, the plaintiffs seek compensation for the pecuniary loss and loss of society resulting from the deaths of Dr. Chute and Mr. Matthews, as well as funeral expenses. The plaintiffs also claim that they are entitled to recover damages for the conscious pain and suffering of the decedents. A non-jury trial on the issue of damages was held on August 14, 1978.

In order to compute the damages award, this court must first determine the proper measure of damages. The court will initially decide whether the Death on the High Seas Act, 46 U.S.C. § 761 et seq. (DOHSA), or the federal general maritime law provides the measure of damages for those items of damages sought by the plaintiffs which are usually compensable in a wrongful death action. Then, the court will ascertain what measure of damages is controlling with respect to the plaintiffs’ claim for compensation for the decedents’ pain and suffering, an element of damages usually recoverable in a survival action. 2

*63 I. Wrongful Death Measure of Damages: DOHSA applies.

Section 1 of the Death on the High Seas Act provides in pertinent part that

[wjhenever the death of a person shall be caused by wrongful act, neglect, or default occurring on the high seas beyond a marine league from the shore of any State . . . the personal representative of the decedent may maintain a suit for damages in the district courts of the United States, in admiralty, for the exclusive benefit of the decedent’s wife, husband, parent, child, or dependent relative against the vessel, person, or corporation which would have been liable if death had not ensued.

46 U.S.C. § 761. Recovery under DOHSA is limited to a “fair and just compensation for the pecuniary loss sustained by the persons for whose benefit the suit is brought.” 46 U.S.C. § 762. While the statutory remedy created by DOHSA applies by its terms when the wrongful act has occurred on the high seas beyond a marine league from the shore of any state, a federal nonstatutory cause of action for wrongful death under general maritime law was recognized by the United States Supreme Court in the 1970 case of Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc., 398 U.S. 375, 409, 90 S.Ct. 1772, 26 L.Ed.2d 339 (1970), which applies to tortious deaths on state territorial waters. Id. at 377, 90 S.Ct. 1772. 3 Although in Moragne the Supreme Court expressly left open “particular questions of the measure of damages,” id. at 408, 90 S.Ct. at 1792, in Sea-Land Services, Inc. v. Gaudet, 414 U.S. 573, 94 S.Ct. 806, 39 L.Ed.2d 9 (1974), a sharply divided Court outlined some of the elements of damages under the new maritime wrongful death remedy. That Court found that recovery may be had for loss of support, services and society, 4 and that damages for funeral expenses may be awarded “in circumstances where the decedent’s dependents have either paid for the funeral or are liable for its payment.” Id. at 591, 94 S.Ct. at 818. Most recently, in Mobil Oil Corp. v. Higginbotham, 436 U.S. 618, 98 S.Ct. 2010, 56 L.Ed.2d 581 (1978), however, the Supreme Court made it clear that the items of damages permitted in Gaudet did not supplement the damages available in wrongful death actions arising on the high seas which are governed by the DOHSA rule that recovery be limited to pecuniary loss. Id. at 622-626, 98 S.Ct. 2010. It would therefore appear that if the instant action comes within the scope of DOHSA, the damages award for those items usually recoverable in a wrongful death action must be limited to pecuniary loss.

This court concludes that DOHSA, and not the general maritime remedy created in Moragne, provides the measure of damages in this action with respect to those elements of damages ordinarily compensable in a wrongful death action. DOHSA applies where the wrongful act occurred “beyond a marine league from the shore of any state,” 46 U.S.C. § 761, that is, 3 miles from shore, Mobil Oil Corp. v. Higginbotham, supra at 620, 98 S.Ct. 2010, measured in nautical miles, or approximately 3.45 statute miles, Hooker v. Raytheon Co., 212 F.Supp. 687, 689 (S.D.Cal.1962). In the instant case, both parties agree that the AD LIB II accident occurred at least 4.5 nautical miles from shore, Tr. at 4, 7 (August 14, 1978), in Nantucket Sound. 5

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Chute v. United States, 466 F. Supp. 61, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14092 (D. Mass. 1978).

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