This is just so sad,,and makes me ask WHY would someone do this?? I don't call it 'playing'??

[Lilsia]

As soon as he rejected the initial plea deal with no jail time, it should have been off of the table. He should have to do jail time AND admit that he was negligent. Personal responsibility!

 

[focusondisney]

In the report I saw, the prosecutor said he is pleading guilty, not taking a plea deal. She said he might get probation, not that he was getting probation. That is his lawyer‘s statement, not the prosecutor’s. I don’t think probation is a certainty. I have no problem with jail time. He caused the death of a child in his care. Why should he NOT get jail??

Same as when someone forgets an infant in the car & the child dies. I don’t care how busy you are, how out of your routine. A child DIES because an adult “forgot” or was careless.... how does that NOT call for jail time??? I don’t care how much the parent or grandfather is grieving. The child is DEAD!!! The child doesn’t get to live their life..... The grandfather has to live with it for the rest of his life???? At least he HAS the rest of his life. Not like that poor child.

 

[luvsJack]

In the report I saw, the prosecutor said he is pleading guilty, not taking a plea deal. She said he might get probation, not that he was getting probation. That is his lawyer‘s statement, not the prosecutor’s. I don’t think probation is a certainty. I have no problem with jail time. He caused the death of a child in his care. Why should he NOT get jail??

Same as when someone forgets an infant in the car & the child dies. I don’t care how busy you are, how out of your routine. A child DIES because an adult “forgot” or was careless.... how does that NOT call for jail time??? I don’t care how much the parent or grandfather is grieving. The child is DEAD!!! The child doesn’t get to live their life..... The grandfather has to live with it for the rest of his life???? At least he HAS the rest of his life. Not like that poor child.

And what exactly does sending him to jail do that losing his granddaughter hasn’t done?

Jail time is supposed to be rehabilitation and/or punishment.

Do you think he will do it again? If not, what does he need rehabilitating for?

Do you not think he is punishing himself every moment of every day for the death of his grandchild?

Jail time will be pointless. I do think the family as a whole needs to come to grips with the responsibility for this child’s death. Mainly grandpa. And then they can begin to heal.

 

[focusondisney]

And what exactly does sending him to jail do that losing his granddaughter hasn’t done?

Jail time is supposed to be rehabilitation and/or punishment.

You answered your own question....Punishment. If you take a life, why should you NOT be punished?? So anyone who kills another person just goes to court & says... “I’m sorry, I’m really punishing myself over this“...... So they don’t get jail time either???

I disagree that jail time is pointless.

 

[luvsJack]

You answered your own question....Punishment. If you take a life, why should you NOT be punished?? So anyone who kills another person just goes to court & says... “I’m sorry, I’m really punishing myself over this“...... So they don’t get jail time either???

I disagree that jail time is pointless.

Do you honestly think that this man deserves more punishment than what he is already going through?

Of course not anyone, that is a ridiculous statement. Do you think he intentionally killed this child?

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

You answered your own question....Punishment. If you take a life, why should you NOT be punished?? So anyone who kills another person just goes to court & says... “I’m sorry, I’m really punishing myself over this“...... So they don’t get jail time either???

I disagree that jail time is pointless.

I agree with you in principle, but not in practice. Prisoners cost a lot of money, and who is footing that bill? Taxpayers. For someone in a case like this where there was no violent, intentional crime and the person is unlikely to reoffend, I don't see the point in spending more taxpayers money to house in prison, feed, clothe, and pay for medical needs.

 

[focusondisney]

Do you honestly think that this man deserves more punishment than what he is already going through?

Of course not anyone, that is a ridiculous statement. Do you think he intentionally killed this child?

What I think is that child deserved to LIVE HER LIFE. And I have NO problem with jail time for the person who took it from her. It wasn’t an accident... it was negligence.

You’re looking out for the grandfather...I’m looking out for the DEAD CHILD.

 

[luvsJack]

What I think is that child deserved to LIVE HER LIFE. And I have NO problem with jail time for the person who took it from her. It wasn’t an accident... it was negligence.

You’re looking out for the grandfather...I’m looking out for the DEAD CHILD.

Is him going to jail going to bring her back?

I am not looking out for the grandfather. I am looking at a family that needs to heal. You sound like you want revenge and that isn’t what our justice system is about.

Yes he was negligent. But it still wasn’t intentional.

 

[fsjking]

"Wiegand's family has sued the cruise ship company, accusing it of negligence by allowing the window in the ship's children's play area to be open."

Once again, they accept the parents' lawyers wording that it was a children's play area. Making it sound like the child could have just stumbled out of the window on her own.

That was a window directly next to a bar. Children's play area indeed....

Not agreeing with their law suit or any of the sort but, these are two different cases here. The lawsuit is the parents vs the cruise line. The criminal case was the grandfather. Same family but not the same. I imagine the lawsuit only names the parents not the grandfather. So its possible that their attorney will be trying to prove that while the grandfather was negligent (because he did plead guilty), the cruise line ALSO holds responsibility due to not making it clear to all passengers that the windows were open.

If the Grandfather isn't involved with the lawsuit, and it proceeds after this, I'd think RCI would try to get him attached as a co-defendant. RCI has been pretty quiet on this as they probably should be, but if the family is going to continue, at some point they either have to settle or take the gloves off.

 

[robinb]

In the report I saw, the prosecutor said he is pleading guilty, not taking a plea deal. She said he might get probation, not that he was getting probation. That is his lawyer‘s statement, not the prosecutor’s. I don’t think probation is a certainty. I have no problem with jail time. He caused the death of a child in his care. Why should he NOT get jail??

Same as when someone forgets an infant in the car & the child dies. I don’t care how busy you are, how out of your routine. A child DIES because an adult “forgot” or was careless.... how does that NOT call for jail time??? I don’t care how much the parent or grandfather is grieving. The child is DEAD!!! The child doesn’t get to live their life..... The grandfather has to live with it for the rest of his life???? At least he HAS the rest of his life. Not like that poor child.

I sincerely hope that you or your family never experiences a terrible mistake like this or forgetting a child in a hot car.

 

[PollyannaMom]

What I think is that child deserved to LIVE HER LIFE. And I have NO problem with jail time for the person who took it from her. It wasn’t an accident... it was negligence.

You’re looking out for the grandfather...I’m looking out for the DEAD CHILD.

But how does jail time actually help her?

The point of paying to keep someone in jail is to keep the rest of us safe - either from that person doing the same thing again (certainly not going to happen here) or as a deterrent to prevent others from doing the same thing (and really, is that necessary here? - We're talking about a tragic lapse of common sense, not something people are trying to find a way to get away with.) Locking him up has a cost but no benefit.

 

[barkley]

Yes he was negligent. But it still wasn’t intentional.

We're talking about a tragic lapse of common sense, not something people are trying to find a way to get away with

and yet he constructs with his legal team a plea that precludes him from disclosing/admitting any facts pertaining to the circumstances of this tragedy.

unfortunately and tragically- i know someone who through an entirely unintentional, accidental and unavoidable event caused the death of a grandchild. it was a horrendous event, and while there was never in any way any consideration on the part of law enforcement to prosecute-the grandparents were and to their deaths were overly forthcoming about every aspect of what occurred, in part by way of processing grief -but in bigger part by way of trying to provide public awareness to others to be overly cautious and prevent the rare circumstance that took the life of their grandchild.

taking a plea that in essence puts a gag order on what occurred-that's an orchestration for the civil lawsuit to proceed (imho).

 

[sam_gordon]

and yet he constructs with his legal team a plea that precludes him from disclosing/admitting any facts pertaining to the circumstances of this tragedy.

unfortunately and tragically- i know someone who through an entirely unintentional, accidental and unavoidable event caused the death of a grandchild. it was a horrendous event, and while there was never in any way any consideration on the part of law enforcement to prosecute-the grandparents were and to their deaths were overly forthcoming about every aspect of what occurred, in part by way of processing grief -but in bigger part by way of trying to provide public awareness to others to be overly cautious and prevent the rare circumstance that took the life of their grandchild.

taking a plea that in essence puts a gag order on what occurred-that's an orchestration for the civil lawsuit to proceed (imho).

I totally agree with you, but none of what you say really explains how a jail sentence helps in any way, shape, or form, which is what the people you quoted were talking about.

 

[mnrose]

We learned in law school there are three reasons for "punishment" after someone is convicted of a crime: punish the offender, rehabilitate the offender, and deter other offenders against the same/similar offense. I'm not sure any of them apply to this tragic case. Does that mean he won't get any punishment...I don't know. And, if his attorneys thought there was "risk" in the videos being shown in the criminal context (and therefore, he should take a plea), the same risk exists in the civil case. Look how many people on this thread were giving granddad some leeway UNTIL the video was out, and then almost to a person, people were like "he HAD to have known the window was open." I'm assuming there are even MORE videos...e.g., one from outside the ship, which will be horrifying. But, I'll bet the cruise line will use it if they have to.

 

[EMom]

While I don't think he dropped her on purpose, I do not believe he has blocked anything from his mind. He's a dry crier. One of those people who act like they are crying, but can't muster up an actual tear. Liars do that.

I think he's well aware of exactly what he did, but jumped on the shady lawyer's version of events in an attempt to cover up his supreme negligence and not be shunned by his entire family....and maybe by the entire world. Who would want to admit they had acted as he did, especially when a toddler paid the price for his careless actions? His brain knows what he did, but his mouth is covering his rear.

 

[mjkacmom]

While I don't think he dropped her on purpose, I do not believe he has blocked anything from his mind. He's a dry crier. One of those people who act like they are crying, but can't muster up an actual tear. Liars do that.

I think he's well aware of exactly what he did, but jumped on the shady lawyer's version of events in an attempt to cover up his supreme negligence and not be shunned by his entire family....and maybe by the entire world. Who would want to admit they had acted as he did, especially when a toddler paid the price for his careless actions? His brain knows what he did, but his mouth is covering his rear.

Totally disagree.

 

[Lilsia]

I totally agree with you, but none of what you say really explains how a jail sentence helps in any way, shape, or form, which is what the people you quoted were talking about.

I think that people would be a bit more sympathetic to him if he would have taken responsibility for his actions instead of making all kinds of excuses. If he would have fessed up right away and admitted how wrong and stupid he was, then I can see probation. But to continually put the blame on others, shows that he is still a danger to society, because he has not accepted that he did anything wrong. If it takes him sitting in jail to realize the error of his ways and to accept blame, then jail time is absolutely warranted.

 

[EMom]

Totally disagree.

We can agree to disagree. He’s the only one who knows for sure, but nothing has caused me to believe a word out of his mouth. I believe he knows what he did, but is looking for anything/anyone to shift the blame to, rather than himself. What he did is completely indefensible and he is in self-preservation mode. He stands to lose everyone.

Maybe the entire family has latched on to the bogus “didn’t know the window was open” story because facing the fact that a loved one’s negligence killed your child is too much to deal with. How does that NOT blow up your family? Does grandma stick by her negligent husband or does she divorce him? If she sticks by him, do Chloe’s parents wash their hands of her or not? I know that if a relative of mine had done what he did, they would be dead to me. That’s not tough talk, but me saying I would never want to see their face again.

 

[mjkacmom]

If this was their first cruise, I absolutely see wanting to believe the lawyer’s spin that it was a dangerous open window in a children’s play area. They weren’t on the ship that long. As for the grandfather, I can’t imagine he doesn’t feel extremely sad and heartbroken. If I were him, I would remove myself from the rest of the family, and I’m sure they’d be better off if that happened. No, I don’t think I could forgive, heck dd17 fell off of the money bars while in the care of her dad and grandparents when she was 3 (they admitted they weren’t paying attentio), she had black eyes and needed surgery last year for a deviated septum).

 

[DLgal]

We can agree to disagree. He’s the only one who knows for sure, but nothing has caused me to believe a word out of his mouth. I believe he knows what he did, but is looking for anything/anyone to shift the blame to, rather than himself. What he did is completely indefensible and he is in self-preservation mode. He stands to lose everyone.

Maybe the entire family has latched on to the bogus “didn’t know the window was open” story because facing the fact that a loved one’s negligence killed your child is too much to deal with. How does that NOT blow up your family? Does grandma stick by her negligent husband or does she divorce him? If she sticks by him, do Chloe’s parents wash their hands of her or not? I know that if a relative of mine had done what he did, they would be dead to me. That’s not tough talk, but me saying I would never want to see their face again.

I feel exactly as you do.