Articles Tagged with “Norwegian Cruise Line”

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Sorrels.jpgWhile on a cruise ship owned and operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, Teresita Sorrels, was walking on the exterior pool deck after it had rained when she suddenly slipped and fell, suffering an unstable comminuted fracture of her wrist which required open reduction internal fixation surgery. The incident was captured by the ship’s closed-circuit surveillance system and preserved for purposes of litigation.

Sorrels and her husband hired Leesfield & Partners, and sued Norwegian Cruise Line alleging that the dangerous surface of the pool deck lacked the appropriate coefficient of friction (the degree of slip-resistance). They also alleged that NCL failed to warn the passengers of such dangerous condition.

The trial court in Sorrels v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd., ruled in 2014 that the testimony and opinions of the expert hired by Leesfield & Partners ought to be excluded for several reasons. Yesterday however, on August 4, 2015, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the summary judgment finding that the trial court erred in excluding the expert testimony submitted by Sorrels.

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Norwegian cruise line crewmember, Senad Djedovic, was arrested on February 27, 2012 by the FBI for possession of child pornography.

This came about approximately four weeks after the assistant cruise director aboard the Norwegian Star met with a 16-year-old female passenger during a seven-day cruise that began on January 29, 2012. The FBI has alleged in its criminal complaint that Djedovic, 29, pursued her sexually and ultimately had sexual relations on March 5, 2012 with the child in one of the staircase of the ship.

senad-djedovic.jpgAfter the cruise ended, Djedovic exchanged photos and videos of a sexual nature with the 16-year-old using his work email address. Other crewmembers became aware of the situation after Djedovic bragged about the fact that he had sexual relations with the female child and even showed some of the photos he had received from her to fellow co-workers.

Djedovic was arrested by the FBI as soon as they were aware of the situation. After his arrest, the FBI’s search of Norwegian’s assistant cruise director’s private computer revealed videos categorized under folders named “12 yrs old”, “15 yrs old”, and “16 yr old”.

Today, Djedovic is in jail awaiting trial on charges of Child Pornography.

Charges for statutory rape were not filed because of the applicable laws in this matter. At the time the sexual relations between the child and the 29-year-old employee occurred, the ship was presumably still outside Florida’s territorial waters where Florida criminal law applies. Had the ship been in Florida territorial waters, Djedovic would have been charged with statutory rape because the age of consent in Florida is 18. Being that federal law applies in this case, Djedovic cannot be charged with raping a 16 year-old because the age of consent under federal law is 16.

Under certain circumstances, Florida law can apply for crimes occurring on the high seas. In Skiriotes v,. Florida, the US Supreme Court held that states may exert criminal jurisdiction over their citizens on the high seas under certain circumstances, provided that Congress has not preempted the field. To read more about those special circumstances, read The Long Reach of U.S. Law over crimes occurring on the High Seas, written by Leesfield & Partners’ maritime law attorney Robert Peltz.
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