An alert reader will remember I wrote about ICD-10, the International Classification of Diseases needing a code to cover the incident in the Hudson River where it is alleged that the fiance of Vincent Viafore pulled the plug of his kayak causing it to sink, thereby resulting in the drowning death of Mr. Viafore. It has become a murder case since Angelika Grasweld has been arrested and accused of causing Mr. Viafore's death, motivated by the large life insurance benefit she was slated to receive on his demise.
This first blog entry was made on September 14, 2015 and promised that more would follow as the case made its way through the justice system and into the media's maw of reporting sensational murders.
Well, the case has advanced and there' been a pretrial hearing for Ms. Graswald. Evidence has been presented in the form of an 11 hour videotaped confession by the defendant. Admissibility is being argued by her lawyer.
Where defendants get their lawyers has always puzzled me. My guess is the lawyer has been appointed by the court, inasmuch as Ms. Graswald hardly seems like someone who could afford a lawyer for anything. The insurance company has withheld paying her the death benefit pending the outcome of the trial, so where one gets the money for this puzzles me. Perhaps the court pays the lawyer. No matter, really.
The story of the pretrial hearing shows a demure Ms. Graswald who hardly looks like a femme fatale in prison orange (the new black), t-shirt, glasses and handcuffs. There is testimony at the hearing by an investigator of a live chat with the defendant after the drowning that the investigator describes as being light-hearted and that didn't seem to fit the anticipated mood of someone who just lost someone they say they loved. The defendant is also described as wanting all the people assisting with the search to join her at a party at a nightclub. Night clubbing and death didn't seem congruent.
The actions of Ms. Graswald remind me of the Matthew Solomon case that played out here on Long Island a few years ago. Mr. Solomon was accused of murdering wife. His trial started one year to the day after their wedding. Happy anniversary, honey, I miss you. The trial got a good deal of coverage.
A friend of ours was on the jury and they described being sequestered and taken out to dinner at a nearby restaurant where a somewhat partying Mr. Solomon wanted to buy drinks for the jury. The hardly brainy guy was convicted.
Thus, actions of the defendant had a bearing on the outcome. It will probably be that way for Ms. Graswald, but perhaps not. Testimony at the pretrial hearing was made from "kayak experts" (look for them of Fox News next) who say that the removal of the plug should not have caused the kayak to sink.
Keyword there is "should." It did sink, but in their view it didn't sink because someone pulled the plug. Score one for the defense.
I have no idea if there is yet an ICD-10 code that covers death in sinking kayak caused by removal of plug by another human. There's a good deal going on there to get encapsulated in a few digits. But, regardless of the outcome of the case, there should be a code, because it has already happened.
Just imagine a prosecutor who faces the jury and is not able to tell them that there is a code for what Ms. Graswald is accused of doing. A summation without a code. Their case might be weakened.
Kayaking is becoming quite popular. You can even rent a kayak at some place on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge and paddle yourself into the East River. Why anyone would want to do this is beyond me, but it's happening. There was recently a story of some kayakers who got swamped by bad weather on Long Island Sound and two died.
Code it. Death by kayak is happening.
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