And the mother said she did not know it was open.
I think the mother is either in serious denial (due to the shame and trauma), has a lawyer telling her exactly what to say, or is extremely clueless to a dangerous degree. There is no way a rational person walking on deck 4 cannot tell that there is no glass above the rail.
Exactly. And the area around it is clearly different than the inside portholes designed for people to sit in. At the very least, check before encouraging your kid to climb on up.
I don't know if the mother would have had a lawyer already when she talked to the sheriff's office right after the cruise. It's possible, but I didn't see a lawyer mentioned in any of the articles. Shame, trauma, and cluelessness make sense.
I would never answer any police questions about an incident of this level without speaking to a lawyer. Heck I would not suggest even answering even basic question by an officer for any incident (even traffic violations) and keeping it to "am I free to go?" unless I had legal representation.
. She sends me any studies or articles she finds interesting and most of them keep me up at night 
)
And... it's possible their cooperation from the start was considered in the decision not to press charges.
I thought the police recommended charges but the prosecutor decided not to proceed? The police recommended charges of child neglect.
That's how I read it.
Yes the police recommended charges and yes the prosecutor declined. Neither of those facts negates that cooperation with an investigation often may impact what charges, or if any charges, are brought.
I mean but also with that thought we could say that potentially cooperation with investigators is what lead the police to have enough evidence to recommend charges? We have no way to know which way helped/ hurt them in that regard.
In this specific situation, the investigators would have found the evidence with or without the family's cooperation -- they had video from the cruiseline which showed the incident. The family's input basically fleshed out the specifics. If anything, it's more likely that the family's input helped the prosecutor's decision not to press charges moreso than it impacted the police recommendation of charges.
I think the prosecutor's decision is more likely due to any backlash they might encounter or considerations for what is best for the victim. Both of our stances are fully speculative.
From the official incident report:
I get it but sadly studies show otherwise in the majority of cases. We can agree to disagree with how we would choose to handle a police investigation and thats ok
Everyone should retain counsel when being investigated for a potential crime. This is a fundamental right (at least in the US). There's a reason the SCOTUS ruled police have to advise you of that right, and exercising it is not an admission of guilt.
