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Seton Hall Fire Sentencing

Their lawyer is blaming the lack of sprinklers in the building to avoid wrongful death lawsuits :thumbsdown:
 
I remember reading about that when I was in school (this happened nearly seven years ago). A lot of older college dormitories don't have sprinklers (or at least don't have really adequate sprinkler coverage in all areas).

Their lawyer is blaming the lack of sprinklers in the building to avoid wrongful death lawsuits
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This is the criminal trial; they can still be sued for wrongful death in a civil court. They're just not guilty of murder/manslaughter.

These sorts of cases are tough. It was a stupid prank that got out of hand... then again, you should know that if you set a building on fire there's a good likelyhood that someone will get hurt/killed. I would have liked to see longer sentences, but you also don't want to ruin their lives because of one wrong decision (even if it was a really wrong one).
 
I can accept that these two were simply playing a prank that got out of hand. People can make mistakes when they're young and stupid. But the point was made in the link by one of the family members of the victims that when the fire got out of control, these two punks ran out of the building instead of trying to alert others who were asleep in their beds. That callous disregard for life is what should have earned them far more than the 5 years(16 months) that they got.
 
Originally posted by: geecee
I can accept that these two were simply playing a prank that got out of hand. People can make mistakes when they're young and stupid. But the point was made in the link by one of the family members of the victims that when the fire got out of control, these two punks ran out of the building instead of trying to alert others who were asleep in their beds. That callous disregard for life is what should have earned them far more than the 5 years(16 months) that they got.
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it does not matter if it was a prank or not. they casued the death of 3 students and burned others.

they should be sitting in prison for years. 3 years with chance of probation in 18 months is a joke.
 
Originally posted by: Matthias99
Their lawyer is blaming the lack of sprinklers in the building to avoid wrongful death lawsuits
Click to expand...

This is the criminal trial; they can still be sued for wrongful death in a civil court. They're just not guilty of murder/manslaughter.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the lesson professor, that's exactly what I was saying. 😕 Their lawyer bringing up the lack of sprinklers seemed to me to be a pre-emptive defense to the inevitable lawsuits.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: Matthias99
Their lawyer is blaming the lack of sprinklers in the building to avoid wrongful death lawsuits
Click to expand...

This is the criminal trial; they can still be sued for wrongful death in a civil court. They're just not guilty of murder/manslaughter.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the lesson professor, that's exactly what I was saying. 😕 Their lawyer bringing up the lack of sprinklers seemed to me to be a pre-emptive defense to the inevitable lawsuits.
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Didn't mean to be condescending; a lot of people don't realize the difference.

I'm sure they'll go after that sort of defense in the inevitable civil trial. However, such trials are extremely complicated (I know someone involved with the Station nightclub fire in RI), so this is nothing more than conjecture.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
So, the DA offered a plea bargain that carries a 5 year sentence why??
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Usually they do this when they think they can't successfully prosecute them on higher charges. If the guys were charged with too high a crime and the DA couldn't pull it off, they'd get away free.
 
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
So did the building not even have fire alarms or something?
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I believe the building did have smoke detectors, but did not have sprinklers at all (but this is based on my recollection of hearing about it when it originally happened; it was a big story around most colleges, since many old dorms have problems like this). I don't know if there were smoke detectors in every room or only in hallways/common areas.

I do not get how someone could die from smoke inhalation.
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Smoke inhalation tends to be more fatal than the fire itself in many cases. Unless you have a fire that for some reason spreads very rapidly, the building will be filled with smoke much more quickly than it will all catch on fire.

If you panic and try to run out of the building (made much more difficult by the smoke), you may hyperventilate (not good with smoke involved) and lose consciousness before you make it outside. Because of the smoke, you're not getting enough oxygen and you can asphyxiate before fire crews get to you. Also, depending on what is actually on fire, the fumes may be toxic in and of themselves (although I don't think that was the case here).
 
Originally posted by: Matthias99
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
So did the building not even have fire alarms or something?
Click to expand...

I believe the building did have smoke detectors, but did not have sprinklers at all (but this is based on my recollection of hearing about it when it originally happened; it was a big story around most colleges, since many old dorms have problems like this). I don't know if there were smoke detectors in every room or only in hallways/common areas.

I do not get how someone could die from smoke inhalation.
Click to expand...

Smoke inhalation tends to be more fatal than the fire itself in many cases. Unless you have a fire that for some reason spreads very rapidly, the building will be filled with smoke much more quickly than it will all catch on fire.

If you panic and try to run out of the building (made much more difficult by the smoke), you may hyperventilate (not good with smoke involved) and lose consciousness before you make it outside. Because of the smoke, you're not getting enough oxygen and you can asphyxiate before fire crews get to you. Also, depending on what is actually on fire, the fumes may be toxic in and of themselves (although I don't think that was the case here).
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I know how deadly smoke inhalation is, but I do not see how it could be fatal in a large building full of people. It seems to me that someone at the university screwed up something with the smoke detectors (either not enough, placement, etc).
 
Originally posted by: waggy
Originally posted by: geecee
I can accept that these two were simply playing a prank that got out of hand. People can make mistakes when they're young and stupid. But the point was made in the link by one of the family members of the victims that when the fire got out of control, these two punks ran out of the building instead of trying to alert others who were asleep in their beds. That callous disregard for life is what should have earned them far more than the 5 years(16 months) that they got.
Click to expand...

it does not matter if it was a prank or not. they casued the death of 3 students and burned others.

they should be sitting in prison for years. 3 years with chance of probation in 18 months is a joke.
Click to expand...

This reminds me of a situation that happened like... maybe 10 years ago where two high school kids thought it'd be funny to steal a stop sign from some rural backwoods intersection. Later on, two cars collided and both drivers died. The kids who took the stop sign were found guilty of causing the deaths and I think they each got like 25 years. I think that, regardless of it's a prank or not... 5 years or less is an insanely easy "punishment" if you kill some people. 25 years would have been more in line.
 
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