Defendants at 'Black Sunday' trial await their fate

Juries in the ?Black Sunday? trial spent another day Wednesday deliberating the fate of the defendants accused of causing the deaths of two firefighters during a 2005 blaze. Prosecutors say tenants Rafael

News 12 Staff

Feb 12, 2009, 12:28 AM

Updated 5,797 days ago

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Juries in the ?Black Sunday? trial spent another day Wednesday deliberating the fate of the defendants accused of causing the deaths of two firefighters during a 2005 blaze.
Prosecutors say tenants Rafael Castillo and Caridad Coste erected illegal partitions inside their apartments that blocked the fire escape, forcing Lt. Curtis Meyran and firefighter John Bellew to jump four stories to their deaths.
Bellew?s widow left the courtroom during Wednesday?s proceeding when the jury overseeing the cases of Castillo and Coste asked the judge to re-read the definition of second-degree manslaughter.
Both tenants are facing multiple charges, including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. The owner of the building and the landlord are facing the same charges in a separate trial.
The court will be closed Thursday for a federal holiday. Deliberations are expected to continue Friday.
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