In NY Crane Collapse Trial Wrapup, Defense Blasts Prosecution's 'Morality Play'
“None of [the prosecutors or witnesses] said that drawing was wrong,” he contended. The defense lawyer vigorously defended Varganyi, even though he pleaded guilty to identical charges last November as part of plea bargain to testify against Lomma.
Schechtman tried to reframe Varganyi as a hard-working and self-taught Hungarian immigrant, who lost the proud life he built for himself by falsely admitting to charges to avoid jail time and deportation. “It’s a sad but understandable response to the pressures of the criminal justice system,” Schechtman said.
He denied that Lomma needed to hire someone with an engineering degree. “For someone in the business of renting cranes, what would a structural engineer do 9 to 5 every day?” he asked.
Nevertheless, Varganyi’s testimony was widely ridiculed in the press.
Former city Dept. of Buildings inspector Michael Carbone testified that he gave the turntable only a quick glance during his inspection, and he admitted on the stand he had accepted repeated payments from other clients before being pressured to resign his agency position.
After the collapse, Carbone testified that he stepped into Lomma’s office to consider working for him, but they decided against it because of the criminal investigation.
Shechtman played down the appearance of corruption, saying that Bethany Klein, former head of the department's Cranes & Derricks unit, testified that Carbone had no bias in favor of Lomma. But, not surprisingly, he also criticized Klein and other public regulators.
“Any mistake that Jimmy Lomma made in this case pales in comparison to the record of incompetence this case reveals about the Department of Buildings,” Shechtman charged. He argued that building codes gave unclear instructions on when the agency needed to be notified during crane repairs.
“Ther code says you need to notify in certain circumstances, and it takes you to a code that doesn’t exist,” he said.
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To prove Lomma guilty of negligent homicide, prosecutors must show he knew that he was violating safety regulations. Shechtman contended that prosecutors did not meet that burden. “There was no notice to anyone,” he said, adding later. “It’s nonsense on stilts. It’s just absurd.”
He also spared no criticism of the prosecutors, whom he claimed “overcharged, overpromised, and oversold” the case.
Shechtman noted that criminal trials are difficult to decide from the bench because judges are privy to information that cannot be admitted into evidence.
