Talk to me after Groundhog's Day
Dispatch from the collapse trial
In Monday's Inquirer and Daily News, I wrote about the first six weeks of the Philadelphia civil trial of lawsuits resulting from the deadly 2013 building collapse that killed six and injured 13 people inside a Salvation Army thrift store at 22nd and Market Streets.
The trial resumes Nov. 15 after a two-week hiatus and the article ended with the question of when the trial might end. Well, that's still an open question but today we learned a bit about what Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina – and presumably the score of lawyers involved – are thinking.
On Thursday, Sarmina issued what's known as an attachment order, basically letting other state and federal judges know that these lawyers aren't going anywhere until the collapse trial is over. The order covers the period from Jan. 3 "until expected conclusion" on Feb. 3, 2017.
Of course, one thing to remember is that this is the third attachment order Sarmina has issued in a trial she has said, optimistically, she thought would have been over on Oct. 27.