Jurors Hear Closing Arguments In Trial Of Contractor Charged In Market St. Collapse
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The jury in the trial of Griffin Campbell, the demolition contractor accused in the Market Street building collapse in 2013 heard day-long closing arguments, and deliberated about a half hour. Jurors will resume their work on Monday.
He faces six counts of third-degree murder.
Defense attorney William Hobson told jurors he understands cutting a deal with a confidential informant in a drug case, but he asked jurors why did the DA's office grant immunity from prosecution to the person he described as "the architect of this disaster" Plato Marinakos. He was the architect hired by the owner to monitor the demolition of a half dozen buildings around the Salvation Army Thrift Store at 22nd and Market Streets. The defense even suggests that defendant Griffin Campbell may not have been "competent or capable" and relied on the owner and architect on how to conduct a safe demolition.
Prosecutor Ed Cameron asked jurors to recall the testimony of different workers who warned Campbell about the instability of the freestanding wall that collapsed.
He says Campbell caused it by taking shortcuts that left three stories of masonry walls unsupported. Cameron says Campbell's inconsistent testimony "showed the defendant's consciousness of guilt."
