Occasionally, charges are filed due to behavior that is not intentionally criminal, but where negligence or recklessness has lead to prosecution.

A recent fatal boating accident in Hampton has prosecutors examining whether to file charges, and against whom, after the death of 35-year-old Elizabeth Elliott in a boating accident. Elliott was aboard a 20-foot boat with several adults and her seven-year-old son when the accident occurred. The unnamed child was reportedly at the boat's wheel when the vessel struck a pier. According to Virginia Marine Resources Commission spokesman John Bull, Elliott was seated at the front of the boat when she was thrown from the craft and suffered severe head and chest trauma.

After the incident, Bull told press that it is not against the law in Virginia for a child to pilot a boat. As a Virginia criminal attorney is well aware, adults responsible for the consequences of a child's actions are not exempt from prosecution. Bull told press that an adult present at the accident could be charged with reckless boating. Bull said:

"We are trying to find out what chain of events, what mental process, resulted in the decision to allow this 7-year-old to operate a boat in a narrow channel of the Hampton River.

"It's still an open-ended question whether laws were broken."

Virginia Marine Police are investigating the incident and the results of the investigation are expected to be complete by the end of this week. Starting in 2011, people aged 20 or younger will be required to complete a boating safety course prior to operating a boat.

This article is present by The Law Office of Price Benowitz, LLP. For more information please visit our Maryland Criminal Lawyer and DC Criminal Lawyer websites.