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Articles
FOREMAN CHARGED IN
WORK-SITE DEATH AT DUNDEE MALL
Article ID: 0108210074
Published on August 21, 2001 - The Blade (Toledo, OH)
Three times, James Morrin, Jr., was warned by a local
building inspector not to allow workers at a construction
site below a power line until it could be disconnected.
But Mr. Morrin, a foreman, ignored the warnings and that
led to the death by electric shock of 24-year-old construction
worker Robert Sorge, police said.
Mr. Morrin, 45, of Temperance was charged yesterday with one count each of involuntary
manslaughter and violation of Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration
rules causing employee death. Mr. Morrin's employer, J.A. Morrin Concrete Construction
Co., of Toledo, is facing a similar charge in the case. "Construction is
a dangerous business. But when construction companies drop the ball on safety,
people die," Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm said yesterday
when announcing the criminal prosecution.
Mr. Sorge of Toledo was backing his raised dump truck through the interior of
a strip mall being built in Dundee about 12:20 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2000 - allegedly
guided from behind by Mr. Morrin - when the top of the box touched a Detroit
Edison power line. When he opened the door of his cab to escape the ensuing fire,
Mr. Sorge was killed by electric shock, Monroe County Sheriff's detectives said.
Monroe County Prosecutor Michael Weipert said investigators learned that Mr.
Morrin, who was the foreman on the job site, was told at least three times by
the Dundee Township building inspector and Detroit Edison officials not to allow
work below the power line until it could be disconnected. Mr. Weipert said the
evidence will show that Mr. Morrin ignored the warnings to expedite the construction.
Mr. Morrin is the son of James Morrin, Sr., owner of J.A. Morrin Concrete Construction
Co., and brother of Jeff Morrin, a partner in K&M Dundee Investments LLC,
which owned the building under construction.
Ms. Granholm said that her office's investigation is continuing and refused to
rule out further criminal charges. "Mr. Morrin is not guilty of the offense," said
his attorney, Lorin Zaner, of Toledo. "At this point, it's our plan to fight
[these charges] vigorously."
Details of the Monroe County case were announced in conjunction with prosecution
of another construction-site death in May, 1999, in Southfield, Mich., when a
trench that was allegedly improperly buttressed caved in and trapped Robert Whiteye,
57, of suburban Detroit. In that case, Angelo D'Alessandro, 45, the vice president
of the Lanzo Construction Co., of Roseville, Mich., and the firm were charged
with one count each of involuntary manslaughter and violating state safety regulations.
In both cases the crimes are punishable by up to a maximum of 16 years in prison
and a criminal fine of as much as $17,500.
Other civil and regulatory penalties in the cases have been imposed Ms Granholm
said. "Had the companies and these two individuals charged heeded simple
[safety] regulations, these two individuals would be alive today," said
Ms. Granholm, who is a candidate for governor in Michigan. Ms. Granholm, who
is serving her first term as state attorney general, said the two cases are only
the second and third criminal cases her office has pursued stemming from construction-site
deaths. In the other case, the defendant escaped incarceration and paid a fine,
she said.
The late Mr. Sorge was a 1994 graduate of Woodward High School who still lived
in the family home at 2332 Erie St., said his father, Tom, who has cooperated
with Michigan authorities in seeking criminal prosecution of those he believes
are responsible for the death of his son. "I wouldn't want anybody else
to go through what our family has," Tom Sorge said. "It was just a
senseless death." The Sorges have filed a civil suit in Lucas County against
J.A. Morrin Concrete Construction Co. and James Morrin, Jr., seeking damages
in the death of their son. That case, which was assigned to Common Pleas Judge
Judith Ann Lanzinger, has a trial date set for June, 2002, said the Sorge family's
attorney, David Shook.
"They chose profits over people and speed over safety," Mr.
Shook said. "Cabela's was opening up, and they intended
to get [the strip mall] opened up as quickly as possible."
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