Jury Verdict Unsealed in Fatal N.Y. Fire: 2 Tenants Not Guilty
An unusual delay apparently didn’t derail a New York jury verdict that was reached Wednesday but only announced in open court today.
Two tenants accused of constructing illegal walls that doomed two firefighters who died in a 2005 fire were found not guilty, reports the New York Times. The firefighters died after jumping from the fourth floor of a Bronx apartment building, when they were trapped by flames in a room that lacked a fire escape,
The verdict was sealed on Wednesday, over the objections of lawyers from both sides, in order to prevent another jury deliberating in a parallel criminal case against the building’s owner and manager from hearing of the decision, as discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post. The prosecution and defense expressed concern, however, because a jury verdict isn’t final under New York law until the jury actually is polled in open court.
The jury in the parallel undecided case, which is still deliberating, apparently will be sequestered until a verdict is reached.
