Griffin Campbell, the North Philadelphia contractor who
jumped at the chance to trade rehabbing houses for demolishing five Center City
buildings, was found guilty Monday of involuntary manslaughter in the 2013
collapse that buried a Salvation Army thrift store, killing six and injuring
13.
The Common Pleas Court jury's verdict - it acquitted
Campbell of six counts of third-degree murder and a conspiracy charge - spared
the 51-year-old Hunting Park man a mandatory sentence of life in prison without
parole, which he would have faced if he had been convicted of more than one
murder count.
Still, Campbell's sentence - he has been held in prison
without bail since his arrest on Nov. 25, 2013 - could be significant.
Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Selber and Edward Cameron said each
manslaughter count carried a possible prison term of 21/2 to 5 years.
And Campbell was also found guilty of 13 counts of
reckless endangerment (each a possible 1- to 2-year prison term), aggravated
assault (10 to 20 years), and causing a catastrophe (71/2 to 15 years).
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building collapse
He didn't act alone
Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson tentatively set
sentencing for Jan. 8 for Campbell, and for Sean Benschop, the operator of the
36,000-pound excavator that was key in the June 5, 2013, toppling of an
unsupported wall of a four-story building under demolition at 22d and Market
Streets.
In July, Benschop, 44, of North Philadelphia, pleaded
guilty to six counts of involuntary manslaughter, 12 counts of reckless
endangerment, one count of aggravated assault, and related charges in a deal
with prosecutors for no more than 20 years in prison. Benschop testified
against Campbell at trial.
Prosecutors said they were satisfied with the verdict.
"No verdict can replace the lives that were lost on
that June morning, but I hope today's verdict brings more closure and healing
to the friends and families of those who were injured and lost their
lives," said District Attorney Seth Williams.
Williams called the verdict a "powerful reminder
that job-site safety is paramount and if someone breaks the law . . . they will
be punished to the fullest extent of the law."
The verdict was announced in a hushed courtroom dominated
by a precise 1/32-scale model of the four-story Hoagie City building at 2136-38
Market St. and the adjacent one-story Salvation Army store.
On one side of the courtroom sat city Treasurer Nancy
Winkler, whose 24-year-old daughter, Anne Bryan, was one of those killed, as
she had throughout the 13-day trial.
At the end of that row was Aiha Boya, whose wife,
Roseline Conteh, 52, died. Boya missed his wife's funeral because he could not
get an emergency visa to travel from their native Sierra Leone. But he was in
court every day.
On the other side of the room sat Campbell's family: Kim,
his wife of 32 years; their four daughters; and his mother, Antoinette
Chisholm, 73. They too were in court daily, quietly listening as Campbell was
vilified by prosecutors and witnesses.
Family members for the accused or the victims would not
comment afterward, leaving that to their lawyers.
Defense lawyer William D. Hobson called the trial "a
tough battle" and said he hoped for a fair sentence from Bronson.
"It's a human tragedy that will forever be etched in
the minds of the city," Hobson said. "Let's hope this is the end of
it."
Hobson declined to comment on a possible appeal, but the
collapse aftermath is far from over.
Lawyers for those injured and killed are preparing for
trial on a consolidated lawsuit in Common Pleas Court set for Sept. 6.
Campbell and Benschop are also defendants in the civil
litigation, but - unlike the criminal case - so are property owner Richard
Basciano and his architect, Plato A. Marinakos Jr., who hired Campbell for the
demolition of five buildings in the 2100 and 2200 blocks of Market and
monitored his progress.
Despite a two-year grand jury probe, Benschop and
Campbell were the only two criminally charged and only Campbell went to trial.
Although Assistant District Attorney Cameron held out the
possibility of additional prosecutions in his closing Friday to the jury, he
also said that would depend on new evidence.
Steven G. Wigrizer, a lawyer representing the families of
Conteh and Mary Simpson, Bryan's 24-year-old friend who died next to her,
praised the prosecutors and jury. Wigrizer, however, said the victims' families
would not get justice until Basciano, Marinakos, and the Salvation Army were
made to answer in next year's civil trial.
Robert J. Mongeluzzi, the lawyer for Winkler and her
husband, Jay Bryan, in the civil litigation, said afterward that for the couple
"there is no satisfaction in any verdict, regardless of what is was,"
because it won't bring their daughter back.
Winkler is cochair of a foundation raising money for a
memorial park for the collapse victims on land the Salvation Army donated at
22d and Market.
The jury of seven women and five men began deliberating
late Friday afternoon and returned Monday at 9:30 a.m. They came into open
court once, shortly before noon, to view two collapse videos shown at trial and
a file of more than 30 photos of the site from June 2, 2013, until the collapse
three days later.
The videos and photos showed a crucial point in the
Hoagie City demolition: June 2 was the end of hand-demolition of the building
and the start of using the excavator.
Prosecutors alleged that Campbell shortchanged public
safety to maximize the salvage value of building materials. The excavator was
picking at a back wall of the Hoagie City building when an unsupported three-
to four-story brick wall toppled on the Salvation Army building.
Prosecution witnesses testified that Campbell was not
supposed to use an excavator because the occupied Salvation Army building
shared the party wall that fell.
Despite testimony that Campbell ignored the warning of
his employees about the danger of the unbraced wall, the jury did not return
guilty verdicts on the third-degree murder charge.
Involuntary manslaughter is a death caused by
recklessness. Third-degree murder carries an additional element of malice,
which prosecutors said the jury could infer from Campbell's ignoring his
workers' warnings.
No one seemed surprised by the verdict. Wigrizer said he
thought it unlikely the jury would find Campbell guilty of murder when Benschop
pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and Marinakos got immunity.
Before trial, prosecutors offered Campbell the same deal
as Benschop; Campbell rejected it.
Testifying in his defense, Campbell contradicted
Marinakos and other prosecution witnesses, calling the collapse a horrible
accident, not the result of his reckless disregard for safety.
Source: Philly.com
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