Defendants in the civil suit over the June 2013 Salvation Army building collapse used their opening statements Tuesday to minimize their oversight responsibilities and blame others involved in the demolition project that eventually led to several deaths and injuries.
Attorney Thomas Sprague of Sprague & Sprague, who is representing Richard Basciano, the owner of the building that eventually fell onto the Salvation Army building while it was occupied with employees and shoppers, spoke for most of the morning. Sprague focused his statements on the alleged failures and negligence by architect Plato Marinakos, demolition contractor Griffin Campbell and Sean Benschop, who was operating the excavator when the building collapsed.
