Lawyer for contractor convicted in building collapse claims secret deal spared developer
The lawyer for Griffin Campbell - the demolition contractor convicted in the deadly Center City collapse - told a Philadelphia judge Friday he believes a secret deal with prosecutors kept millionaire property developer Richard Basciano from testifying at Campbell's trial.
The lawyer for Griffin Campbell - the demolition contractor convicted in the deadly Center City collapse - told a Philadelphia judge Friday he believes a secret deal with prosecutors kept millionaire property developer Richard Basciano from testifying at Campbell's trial.
William D. Hobson made the assertion at a post-conviction hearing on his contention that Campbell's manslaughter conviction should be overturned because of "selective racial prosecution."
Hobson told Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson he believed it was no coincidence that two black men were the only people criminally charged, while Basciano and his architect - both white - were not.
Plato A. Marinakos Jr., 49, the architect overseeing demolition of Basciano's properties in the 2100 block of Market Street, was granted immunity from prosecution. He testified before a grand jury and at trial.
Basciano and a top aide invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and refused to testify before the grand jury or at trial.
Hobson argued that Basciano and aide Thomas Simmonds were fact witnesses crucial to Campbell's defense and yet he could not call them.
Yet within days of the October verdict in Campbell's trial, Hobson said, Basciano and Simmonds waived their Fifth Amendment rights and testified at depositions in civil litigation filed on behalf of the six killed and 13 injured in the collapse on June 5, 2013.
"I believe there was a tacit agreement between the District Attorney's Office and Basciano and the Sprague law firm and Simmonds . . . for key factual witnesses to be made unavailable, excused because they exercised their Fifth Amendment rights," Hobson said.
Hobson's contention was met with skepticism by Bronson and denials from Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Selber and Edward Cameron - and the Sprague law firm.
Selber and Cameron, who handled prosecution of the collapse case from after the grand jury presentment through trial, told Bronson they never communicated with lawyers from the Sprague firm and never offered immunity to Basciano or Simmonds.
The Sprague firm, founded by storied Center City lawyer Richard A. Sprague, deviated from its policy of not commenting on allegations involving Basciano and his employees.
In a statement Friday, Thomas A. Sprague said: "Mr. Hobson's statements . . . have become so extreme that we believe we must now respond."
Sprague called Hobson's comments "absolutely false. This law firm has never sought immunity for either Mr. Basciano or Mr. Simmonds, and the suggestion that there was a tacit agreement between this office and the District Attorney's Office regarding their civil deposition testimony is an absolute falsehood.
Reached later, Hobson said: "I know that [Sprague], like all good criminal defense lawyers . . . would not produce their clients for a sworn deposition that could result in criminal prosecution unless they were 100 percent positive that the D.A. would not prosecute."
At Friday's hearing, Bronson called Hobson's contention "a very, very serious allegation. Basically, you're accusing the Commonwealth [prosecutors] of obstruction of justice."
"I can't imagine this," Bronson told Hobson. "If they did this, they belong in jail. That's obstruction of justice, isn't it?"
Bronson said there was no practical benefit for prosecutors to keep Basciano off the witness stand: "Why should they care?"
Still, the judge did not dismiss Hobson's contention. He gave Hobson until March 10 to document evidence of the purported agreement and his claim of a racially based prosecution. Bronson said he would then decide whether to hold an evidentiary hearing on the issue.
Selber and Cameron promised Bronson they would talk to prosecutors involved in the two-year grand jury investigation of the collapse to verify that immunity was not sought by or offered to Basciano, Simmonds, or others.
On Jan. 8, Bronson sentenced the 51-year-old Campbell to 15 to 30 years in prison for his conviction on six counts of involuntary manslaughter and counts involving the 13 people injured in the collapse.
Bronson also sentenced Sean Benschop, 44, the excavator operator Campbell had hired to demolish the building that fell on the Salvation Army store at 22d and Market Street, to 71/2 to 15 years. Benschop had pleaded guilty and testified for prosecutors at Campbell's trial.
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