Massachusetts May File Criminal Charges in Big Dig collapse

Such a move would set a new legal precedent and might encourage other prosecutors to bring similar charges in structural failures.

1 minute read

July 28, 2007, 5:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Boston's Big Dig, the most expensive highway project in US history, has had its share of woes – from highly publicized leaks to a fatal ceiling collapse that has spawned a civil suit. Now, Massachusetts' attorney general is mulling whether to press criminal charges against the state authority that oversaw the project and some of the contractors.

..."A conviction of a Big Dig contractor like Bechtel would be a landmark precedent in the criminal law precisely because such convictions are thought to be impossible to obtain..."

Thursday, July 26, 2007 in The Christian Science Monitor

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