Criminal trial of Powers Fasteners to proceed
Industrial Distribution staff -- Industrial Distribution, 12/19/2007 7:18:00 AM
The criminal manslaughter trial of Powers Fasteners will proceed after a Massachusetts judge rejected the fastener and adhesives manufacturer’s move to dismiss the charges, The Boston Globe reported.Judge Patrick Brady rejected the Brewster, N.Y.-based company’s that Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley's office should not be able to prosecute the case because it also filed a civil lawsuit against Powers and other companies, stemming from the fatal ceiling collapse in one of Boston’s “Big Dig” tunnels last year.
The indictment alleges that Powers supplied the epoxy, “Power-Fast Epoxy Injection Gel Fast Set,” used to secure the concrete ceiling of the tunnel that collapsed last July, killing 38-year-old Milena Del Valle.
Brady ruled that the attorney general's office is "authorized to conduct the civil and criminal cases at the same time. … Powers has not shown there is any conflict or other reason to disqualify the office."
Powers, the only company facing criminal charges related to the accident, also faces a civil suit brought by Del Valle’s family. That case may be settled for roughly $6 million, according to a separate Globe report. The Del Valle family’s suit also names 14 other defendants, including Big Dig project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and several contractors.
Lawyers involved in the case told the newspaper that if Powers accepts responsibility for the incident and compensates Del Valle's husband and three children, it could help in its fight against the manslaughter charge.
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