Building collapse lawsuits seek to get answers, assign blame
The quest to learn why a
Authorities have opened criminal and civil investigations into the collapse of the oceanfront Champlain Towers South, which killed at least 32 people and left more than 110 missing. At least five lawsuits have been filed by
“The whole world wants to know what happened here,"
Miami-Dade State Attorney
One lawyer involved in the litigation said the collapse raises widespread concerns about infrastructure issues and the trust put in those responsible for them.
“We deserve to be able to walk into buildings without worrying that they’re going to come crumbling around us and to know that our loved ones can go to bed at night without worrying that they’re going to plummet 12 stories to the ground below in their sleep,” said
The lawsuits filed to date accuse the
“The role of building owners and architects and engineers and inspectors and safety professionals is to make sure that buildings are safe for their occupants to be in,” Goodman said.
At a hearing Friday, a judge appointed a receiver to represent the condominium association’s interests given the trauma experienced by board members, one of whom remains missing. The board has about
The judge said he hoped the litigation could be resolved quickly, perhaps within a year. Until then, he authorized the receiver, attorney
Attorney
“They want to make this a quest to find out what happened,” Mongeluzzi said. “We believe that evidence is still there.”
Neither condominium association board members nor their attorneys responded to emails seeking comment.
One prior case with possible legal parallels involves the 2013 collapse in
In the trials that followed, jurors reviewed emails that detailed a preexisting dispute over the demolition, and found the
On the criminal side, the architect received immunity in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors, and the wealthy building owner was never charged. However, a food cart operator-turned-contractor was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, though he was acquitted of third-degree murder. A forklift driver who was taking prescription drugs for an injury also went to prison after taking a plea deal.
“It was a tragedy, no question about it. It could have been avoided,” lawyer
He still believes the people most culpable walked free while “the two guys at the bottom of the food chain” were prosecuted “based on race (and) social inequality.” Campbell continues to appeal the conviction, with support from some victims' families.
The deaths prompted officials in
In
“I think it’s increasing because of the media and social media — not necessarily because there’s a drumbeat out there, but everybody’s horrified by what they can see. And there’s this cry for justice,” Binder said.
“On something spectacular like this, in today’s world, there’s great pressure to find fault,” he said. “And there’s enough evidence already (in
Dale reported from
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