Adventureland drowning suit could drag into 2025 as state asks to be dismissed from case

The legal battle over who is to blame for a child's death at Adventureland is only getting more heated and more complicated.

Michael Jaramillo, 11, drowned July 3, 2021, when the raft he and his family were riding on the amusement park's Raging River ride flipped over, trapping them underwater. His brother and father also suffered severe injuries. A subsequent state report found the park violated 17 safety standards that contributed to the tragedy.

The park was sold to new owners in December 2021, who permanently shuttered the Raging River.

The Jaramillos, who live in Marion, sued the park's previous owners in 2022. In April, they amended their complaint to bring additional claims against the state of Iowa and engineers and vendors who worked on the ride.

On Wednesday, the parties appeared before District Judge Paul Scott to debate whether the state should remain a party to the case, and when the whole unwieldy dispute might possibly be set for trial.

Immunity for the inspectors?

On July 2, one day before the Jaramillo's raft flipped, a state inspector reviewed the ride and rated it to be "satisfactory" and safe for operation.

The family's amended complaint alleges that the inspector, whose son worked for the park, was negligent in failing to identify the safety issues that resulted in Michael Jaramillo's death.

"Many of the seventeen safety violations found after Michael's death in the Amusement Ride Safety Division's own Safety Order were present, and able to be observed and detected, prior to the July 3, 2021 tragedy," according to the complaint.

The state has filed a motion to dismiss this part of the case. Citing past court precedent, it argues it cannot be liable because state inspectors do not have a "special duty" to park-goers such as the Jaramillos, and because how it conducts inspections involves judgment calls based on "social, economic and political policy" that fall within its legal discretion.

Attorneys for the Jaramillo family say neither argument holds up. The state has a particular duty to amusement park visitors because of legislation specifically directing the Iowa Division of Labor to ensure parks are safe for patrons, and the state has failed to identify what "social, economic or political" factors are served by an inspector ignoring obvious safety errors, attorney Brook Cunningham argued.

The state's proposed immunity "does not apply when the state is acting on private property, on a private party's behalf, for an identifiable business patron/invitee class," Cunningham said, contrasting this case to past lawsuits that have found, for example, that police do not have a special duty toward every driver on public roads.

One year later: Powerful reminders of the Adventureland ride tragedy haunt the Jaramillos: 'We don't call it an accident'

Trial could be delayed to 2025

A jury trial for the Jaramillo's lawsuit was scheduled to start March 11, 2024. That date was set, however, prior to the addition of the state and other defendants to the case.

Cryogenic Plastics Inc., which supplied components for the raft that overturned, has asked the court to push the trial back. On Wednesday, attorney Jason Casini said that not only do he and several other newly added lawyers have conflicts with that date, but the new defendants will need more time to conduct discovery and prepare for trial. As of Wednesday, the parties had not even begun holding depositions, he told Scott.

The Jaramillo's attorneys have asked the judge to keep the early 2024 trial schedule, arguing that Cryogenic Plastics and the other new defendants were on notice well before April that they were likely to be added to the case. The family is concerned that if a new date is set in late 2024 or even early 2025, the lack of urgency will cause the case to "go dormant," as attorney Fred Dorr put it.

Scott acknowledged both side's concerns and said he will issue written decisions soon on both the trial schedule and the state's motion to dismiss.

Attorneys for the park's former owners also have filed a motion to move the trial out of Polk County, largely citing the “inaccurate, sensationalized (and) targeted” coverage of the incident by local media, including the Register. The motion, by attorney Guy Cook, does not identify any specific inaccurate statements in media coverage to which his client objects.

New lawsuit focuses on Adventureland water slide

According to new court filings, the Jaramillos weren't the only ones injured on Adventureland water rides in July 2021.

In a new lawsuit filed earlier this month, Des Moines resident Myles Cooper says he suffered "serious and permanent injuries" on July 12, 2021, while riding the Bermuda Quadrangle water slide. While riding an inner tube down the slide, Cooper "encountered an unsafe condition on the water slide, where he suffered a head injury."

Attorneys for Cooper did not return messages seeking additional details about the case. Cook, representing the former park ownership, said they intend to deny Cooper's claims in court.

"The unfortunate incident was not (the) result of any unsafe condition on the water slide," Cook said in an email. "The guest reportedly struck his head while going down the slide. First aid responded and the situation was appropriately addressed."

The Bermuda Quadrangle, which according to the Adventureland website remains open, differs from the Raging River in one notable respect: under state law, water slides are not subject to the same inspection requirements. While amusement park rides must be inspected annually by a nationally certified inspector, water slides are treated as swimming pools.

Inspections are done by the Department of Public Health instead of the Division of Labor, and are limited to checking water quality and for sharp edges and other material defects.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Adventureland amusement park drowning lawsuit faces new delays