Black Sunday Verdict: Guilty

The owner and the manager of the building that burned in the Bronx in 2005 resulting the in the deaths of two FDNY firefighters in the Black Sunday fire, were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment by a jury today. Prosecutors alleged that the pair failed to prevent tenants from illegally sub dividing their apartments. They were originally charged with manslaughter, but were convicted of the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. In a separate trial, the tenants were acquitted of the same charges.

Links to news article here:

Tenants Acquitted in Black Sunday Trial

The two tenants charged with manslaughter in the January 23, 2005 Bronx fire, often referred to as Black Sunday, have been acquitted. A separate trial against the former and current building owners continues. Two FDNY firefighters were killed and several others injured in the fire.

Click here for a news article on the acquittal.

Salute or Wave - Leads to Suspension

A Cleveland firefighter was given a six-month suspension from the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipes and Drum Corp for giving President Barack Obama a nod and wave during last week's inaugural parade in Washington, D.C. The case raises some interesting questions about the rights of public organizations to enforce reasonable uniform and decorum requirements versus the first amendment rights of public employees. Click here for more.


Chapter 14 in FOLH addresses this thorny issue.

1/28/09 - here's a followup story from CNN

Manslaughter Trial for FDNY Black Sunday Deaths

The deaths of two FDNY firefighters and severe injuries to seveal others on January 23, 2005 is the subject of a crimical trail against two tenants and the owners of the apartment building where the fire occurred. The prosecution alleged that the defendants illegally subdividing apartments in the building, and thereby contributed to the deaths and injuries through their reckless and/or criminally negligent behavior. The defendants are chanrged with two counts of second degree manslaughter, two counts of criminally negligent homicide and one count of reckless endangerment.

Key to the case will be the mental states of the defenmdants. Did their conduct constitute reckless behavior? Was it criminally negligent behavior? Chapter 5 of FOLH and Legal Considerations addresses this difficult area of the law.



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/nyregion/06fire.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion


Update: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nyfire0130%2C0%2C6424922.story

Can City Use Retirees?

The Omaha Firefighter's Union recently dropped a law suit against the cityof Omaha, challenging the city's use of retired firefighters as part-time fire investigators. The union alleged that the practice violated the collective bargaining agreement, and deprived union members of work and pay.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10530798

Firefighter's Death leads to Murder Charge for Reckless Driver

Maybe its me, but it seems like firefighters and police officers are being struck by vehicles at accident scenes on just about a daily basis. In a recent case in Delaware, 30 year old Michelle Smith, a volunteer firefighter in Delaware City and the Volunteer Hose Company of Middletown, was struck and killed by a speeding car while treating a patient of a motorcycle accident. The patient was also struck but is expected to survive.

The driver who struck Smith is now being charged with murder - which is rather unusual. The mental state required for murder is substantially higher than that necessary for involuntary manslaughter, or vehicular homicide. Generally to be convicted of murder, the perpetrator must have acted intentionally, knowingly, or with recklessness indicating a depraved heart. Normal recklessness will usually result in manslaughter.

It would appear that prosecutors believe they can establish that the driver, Joseph M. Taye Jr., acted with depraved heart recklessness. It will be interesting to see how the case progresses.

For more on the case click here or copy and paste this link: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081231/NEWS01/812310356

Murder, manslaughter and recklessness are all covered in Chapter 5 of FOHL and Legal Considerations.

Contractor Charged with Manslaughter In Fire deaths

The New York City contractor assigned to demolish the Deutsche Bank building was charged with manslaughter for the deaths of two FDNY firefighters at a fire in 2007.

More details can be found at: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/12/22/2008-12-22_bronx_contractor_john_galt_corp_charged_.html