THE BROTHER JONATHAN AND THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Appellants, v. DEEP SEA RESEARCH, INC. AND THE U. S. A., Appellees
On appeal, the appellate court should reverse the decision of the District Court because: (1) the State of California (The State) has a colorable claim to the shipwrecked vessel Brother Jonathan (the vessel) under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act (ASA) inasmuch as the vessel was legally abandoned within the meaning of ASA and even though the vessel may not be embedded in the submerged lands of the State, it is eligible for inclusion in the National Register; (2) any claim by Deep Sea Research, Inc. (Deep Sea) against the State is barred by the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution; and (3) ASA is constitutional. It is unclear whether the State's claim to the vessel under California Public Resources Code section 6313 is preempted by ASA, but the court need not reach a conclusion on that issue.
The State Has Title to the Vessel Because It Was Abandoned. Under Section 2105 (a) (1) of ASA, the United States has title to any abandoned shipwreck which is embedded in submerged lands of a State. Under Section 2105 (c), title to such a shipwreck is transferred to such a State. The first issue, therefore, is whether the wreck in question was abandoned for purposes of this section. The District Court held that it was not abandoned within the meaning of ASA even assuming that the evidence showed that the owners of the vessel had undertaken no efforts to salvage the vessel. The District Court relied on the decision of the 4th Circuit in the Columbus-America Discovery Group case wherein the Court stated that "abandonment of a sunken cargo . . . must be shown not by the mere cessation of attempts to recover, but by the owner's positive relinquishment of his rights in the property." It also relied on the Zych case in which the court said: "To show abandonment, a party must prove (1) intent to abandon, and (2) physi...