United States v. David C. Hilger

On May 26, 1986 the tanker GOLDEN GATE collided with the fishing vessel JACK, JR. off the coast of California, killing all three members of the crew of the JACK, JR. On October 30, 1987 a grand jury returned an indictment charging the GOLDEN GATE’S captain, appellee David Hilger, with three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1115 (1982). On February 12, 1988, Hilger moved to dismiss the indictment on five grounds: (1) improper venue; (2) failure to allege the essential element of gross negligence; (3) failure to charge according to the proper unit of prosecution; (4) failure to charge with sufficient specificity; (5) and failure to state an offense under § 1115. On March 10, 1988 the district court granted Hilger’s motion to dismiss on the second and third grounds — that the indictment failed to allege the essential element of gross negligence and that the indictment failed to charge according to the proper unit of prosecution. The district court ruled against Hilger on the remaining three grounds.

In this appeal, the government challenges the dismissal of the indictment on both of the grounds relied upon by the district court. The government argues that the unambiguous language of…