February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Joseph Shore, who is 65, and his 39-year-old son, Cord Shore, had pleaded guilty in June to manslaughter, just days before their trial was to begin. Under the plea agreement, they could have received up to six months in prison. Had the case gone to trial, they would have faced up to 10 years each.
During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Owyan failed to convince Judge Rya Zobel that either man deserved any jail time. She ruled that he was out of order for attempting to introduce evidence about possible drug use by the crew into the sentencing hearing. While repeatedly expressing exasperation with the prosecution, the judge offered respectful deference to the high-profile defense lawyers, Richard Egbert and Joseph Balliro, throughout the nearly two-hour session.
During the hearing, an Irishman who was aboard the Sea Genie II testified to the events of the tragic night when Kinsella fell overboard and drowned in Hyannis Harbor. Rory Vandamme, who is now 24, said that he noticed that a section of a railing had broken off of the charter boat after it collided with a moored sailboat in the harbor. He said that he and another passenger then stood at the opening in the boat’s railing for about 10 minutes, warning passengers to be careful as they squeezed by on the narrow walkway.
Vandamme testified that he subsequently handed the piece of broken railing to Cord Shore, who he said assured him that the situation would be taken care of. About 10 minutes later, Kinsella fell through the broken railing into the sea.
What happened next during that night was the subject of an intensive investigation by several law-enforcement agencies. Witnesses were prepared to testify, had the case gone to trial, that crew members drank liquor and smoked marijuana during the cruise and that they were more concerned with hiding evidence of underage drinking than they were with recovering Kinsella from the pitch-black water. Prosecutors say that the crew waited about 50 minutes before notifying the Coast Guard that someone had fallen overboard.
Joseph Kinsella, father of Catherine, and three of her siblings were at the hearing and offered emotional victim impact statements prior to the imposition of sentence.
“She was always a giver, she gave so much to us,” Joseph Kinsella said, fighting back tears. “We were so proud of her.”
Catherine Kinsella’s mother and a brother were too emotionally distraught to make the trip to the U.S. from their home in Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, the family said. Her brother Joseph told the judge: “How can we say in a few words how much Kate meant to us? Our family is no longer complete. We struggle individually. We struggle together.”
Before imposing the sentence of probation, Zobel said that she had received many letters on behalf of the defendants. She said that they had made “major lapses in judgment” on the night in question. “But these are not callous men,” she said.
She then ordered the Shores to serve three years of probation, with the first six months in home confinement. She also fined each man $10,000 and ordered them to jointly pay $18,700 in restitution to Kinsella’s family, and $21,600 to her family’s insurance company. They will also be required to perform 500 hours of community service.
After the sentence was imposed, the Shores and their lawyers shared smiles and pats on the back. The Kinsellas, declining any media interviews, headed back to Ireland that night.