Closing Arguments in Pier 34 Case

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - October 31, 2006 (WPVI) -- The trial of the two men charged in the deadly Pier collapse is coming to a close in Center City Philadelphia. Lawyers for defendants Eli Karetny and Michael Asbell made their final arguments Tuesday, hoping to convince jurors that the two owners of the floating nightclub that collapsed 6 years ago are not the ones responsible for the tragedy.

Pier 34 defendants Michael Asbell and Eli Karetny watched in silence as their lawyers delivered final arguments. The blame was placed on crooked, negligent contractors who never told them the pier was headed toward and imminent collapse into the river. The collapse ultimately lead to the death of 3 young women and the injury of 43 others.

Karetny's lawyer Frank Desimone told the jury, "If you convict Karetny, you'll be giving the contractors free get out of jail cards."

The contractors told the jury they had repeatedly warned the defendants that the pier was failing, and would collapse at low tide the night of May 18th, 2000& and it did. The defendants claim they never got the crucial warning, or they would have closed right away.

"Don't convict an innocent man because 3 girls died," Disimone pleaded.

Asbell's lawyer Thomas Bergstrom defended him by saying, "The commonwealth would have you believe for a few pieces of silver, they would let their million dollar dreams of riverfront development become this nightmare... That makes no sense." The defendants, he said, should be acquitted on the basis of reasonable doubt.

The prosecution says the pair should be convicted of manslaughter and the related charges. Asst. D.A. John Doyle said look at the history since Asbell purchased the pier in the late 80's. "There's a history of nothing but cheap repairs. The bare minimum, unless they had a gun to their head. They were told over and over about the pier's multitudinous problems, all the way to the very day Deann White, Jean Marie Ferraro, and Monica Rodriguez paid with their lives."

The defense coutered saying they spent nearly $2 million on repairs since the mid-1990s, when a section of the parking lot on it collapsed.

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