Single trial for pair charged in deadly collapse
A Philadelphia judge has denied a defense request for separate trials for the two men charged in last year's catastrophic collapse of a Center City building that killed seven and injured 13.
A Philadelphia judge has denied a defense request for separate trials for the two men charged in last year's catastrophic collapse of a Center City building that killed seven and injured 13.
Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner on Tuesday rejected the claim by lawyers for Griffin Campbell and Sean Benschop that trying them together would necessarily force one to incriminate the other and required them to testify at trial.
Lerner, however, approved the redaction of comments Benschop made to a federal workplace safety inspector days after the June 5, 2013 collapse that crushed a Salvation Army thrift store, killing or trapping workers and customers under tons of debris.
Benschop, a heavy equipment operator demolishing a wall that fell on the thrift store, told the inspector he was hired by Campbell and following his directions.
"Those references have now been deleted so the jury will never hear them," Lerner told Campbell attorney William D. Hobson.
Lerner also set a hearing for Sept. 24 when he said he will assign the case to a trial judge and set in motion what defense attorneys hope will be an early trial.
The judge also imposed a gag order on both sides - preventing them from commenting to reporters - at least until the trial judge can revisit that issue.
Campbell, 50, and Benschop, 43, are each charged with multiple counts of third-degree murder, conspiracy and reckless endangerment. Both remain in prison without bail - Benschop has been locked up since shortly after the collapse - because convictions on more than one count of third-degree murder carry a mandatory life prison sentence.
Benschop's attorney, Daine A. Grey Jr., has said that if the two are tried together, Benschop's defense would incriminate Campbell, who hired the excavator operator to take down the building next to a Salvation Army thrift store at 2136 Market St. It was during demolition that an unsupported four-story brick wall toppled onto the thrift store's roof.
Benschop and Campbell are the only two criminally charged in the collapse, although a Philadelphia County grand jury is continuing to investigate and others could be charged.
215-854-2985 @joeslobo