PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

DA Zappalla and the Death Penalty
by Donna Spadaro Monday July 14, 2003 at 12:40 PM
dspadaro@usachoice.net (email address validated)

The law proposed by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappalla to make the murder of anyone over 70 years old one of the aggravating circumstances under PA law that would make the perpetrator liable for the death penalty invites invidious distinctions about whose lives are worth more. To affirm the worth of the lives of workers killed on the job, DA Zappalla should report the results of the investigation into the death of Paul Corsi at the convention center truss collapse.

The law proposed by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappalla to make the murder of anyone over 70 years old one of the aggravating circumstances under Pennsylvania law that would make the perpetrator liable for the death penalty invites invidious distinctions about whose lives are worth more. To affirm the worth of the lives of workers killed on the job, DA Zappalla should report the results of his investigation into the death of Paul Corsi, at the age of 38, at the convention center truss collapse in February 2002.

Almost a year has gone by since Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht investigated this death and found � failures so blatant and overwhelming that a person could only conclude that the actions, errors and omissions more than rise to a level of recklessness and grossly negligent conduct� and recommended that the Dick Corporation be held criminally liable. In appalling contrast, OSHA found no evidence of criminal violations. T he Dick Corporation was able to �negotiate� with OSHA to have two of the citations issued reclassified as �other than serious� and one dropped completely, that resulted in a reduction of fines to a paltry $12,000.

Families of victims killed on the job, whose tax dollars fund OSHA, have no such access to �negotiate� with OSHA and no method of readdressing negligence that indeed may be criminal. As my brother, Gary Puleio, was killed in an industrial accident, I have experienced this firsthand.

This community deserves to know the results of District Attorney Zappalla�s investigation. If worker safety laws are to have any validity and the truthful circumstances surrounding the death of Paul Corsi are ever to be made known, an adequate investigation by an unbiased authority must be done.

Reporting the facts of this investigation, will affirm the value of the life of Paul Corsi, my brother Gary, and the approximately 6000 workers who are killed yearly on the job.

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