Demolition contractor acquitted of murder, convicted of manslaughter in building-collapse case
A demolition contractor was acquitted Monday of murder.
However, a Philadelphia jury convicted Griffin Campbell of six counts of involuntary manslaughter and other charges over a 2013 building collapse that left a half-dozen people dead and 13 injured.
Campbell, 51, had insisted when he testified in the Common Pleas Court case that the collapse of a several-story brick wall onto a neighboring building at 22nd and Market streets was an accident. Prosecutors contended shortcuts had intentionally been taken in an effort to maximize the salvage value of the demolished building, at the expense of safety, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The jury reached its verdict after less than a day of deliberations.
If convicted of more than one of the third-degree murder counts he faced, Campbell could have gotten a life prison term without parole. He still could get a substantial sentence: Fellow excavator operator Sean Benschop, 44, who had been using the 36,000-pound machine earlier in the day of the collapse, pleaded guilty to similar charges, including six counts of involuntary manslaughter, in exchange for a prosecution agreement to seek no more than a 20-year prison term.
Plato Marinakos Jr., the architect hired by the property owner for the demolition project, was granted immunity in exchange for his agreement to testify before a grand jury and at trial.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Murder trial begins for demolition contractor in ‘apocalyptic’ building collapse”
