James Lomma acquitted on all charges

On Thursday, April 26, 2012, Justice Daniel P. Conviser of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan acquitted James F. Lomma and his companies of four criminal charges related to a tower crane collapse in Manhattan, New York, USA, in 2008, according to news reports. Two workers were killed in the accident.

Judge Conviser heard the case without a jury and didn't give an explanation of his verdict when declaring Lomma innocent of all charges, including the charge of second-degree manslaughter. The three other charges were assault, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

According to The New York Times, "The defense had contended that the collapse was not the result of shoddy welding by the Chinese company; rather, it said, the accident happened because of a heavy load hoisted by the crane's operator. That load caused the crane's line to snap and sent the crane into imbalance."

Prosecutors claimed that Lomma and his company was negligent for allowing inexpensive and shoddy repairs to the crane in order to get it back in to service quickly, according to news reports.

Lomma is owner of New York Crane & Equipment. He could not be reached for comment.