Berkeley probe may lead to charges

The owners and others responsible for the the building in Berkeley, California, where six Irish students died could face manslaughter charges, the local District Attorney indicated yesterday.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said that involuntary manslaughter charges could result from a criminal investigation into the balcony collapse on June 16.

However, Ms O’Malley told ABC News in San Francisco that her office’s investigation into the collapse of the fourth-floor balcony was just beginning and therefore it was far too early to speculate as to what its conclusions might be.

At a news conference, she promised that her office will conduct a through and exhaustive investigation and “look at every aspect from every angle,” but said she will not file criminal charges unless there is enough evidence to support them.

She said a key focus of the investigation is whether there was criminal negligence by those responsible for the building.

However, she declined to specify exactly who that might be and whether the targets of her investigation would include not only the owners and those who built the apartment complex but also those responsible for its management and maintenance.

“We will find out if there are facts that support criminal charges and if they can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” Ms O’Malley said.

“The investigation will look at are whether there was more than ordinary carelessness, inattention, and lack of judgement and whether those factors created a high risk of death or great bodily injury.”

Amid concern that some of the evidence to support a criminal investigation might have been tainted by the removal of the collapsed balcony, Ms O’Malley said the structure is now in the custody of the Berkeley Police Department, while the balcony underneath had been moved to “a secure location” guarded by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

Ms O’Malley said that the Berkeley Police Department will work with her office in the investigation.

“We want to move forward as expeditiously as we can,” she said.

Ms O’Malley added that the statute of limitation for involuntary manslaughter is three years so her office up to has that amount of time to finish its investigation and bring charges.

Earlier yesterday, Ms O’Malley denied that her office had been pressurised by the Irish community in the US to launch a formal investigation into the balcony collapse after local authorities said their involvement had ended.

In an interview with RTÉ News, Ms O’Malley also said her office would be looking closely at previous lawsuits that had been taken against the developers and contractors who had built the Library Gardens apartment complex.

She said this was “an unusual case” and not something that a police force like the Berkeley PD would normally handle.

Ms O’Malley said that the hearts of those in her office were grieving with the families, especially as both she and her chief assistant Kevin Dunleavy had “strong ties to Ireland”.