Actually, the only precedent here is that he is a professor, and the accident was in a chemical laboratory. There have been other similar cases in industry where a supervisor was criminally charged for "failure to follow occupational health & safety regulations". I know of one in particular in 1987 that was the result of a death from exposure to arsine gas. Ironically, the individual who died was the official safety manager for a very small plant that reconditioned gas cylinders. The two exposed employees in that case both smelled arsine gas, and yet waited about 40 minutes while the plant supervisor finished a meeting before telling him. He rushed them to the hospital and one died about 10 days later. The supervisor was charged with criminal negligence by OSHA. (Eventually he was exonerated, however).

Russ Phifer
WC Environmental, LLC
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West Chester, PA 19380
Fax 800-858-6273
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Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail or any other document

-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Koza, Mary Beth Christine
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 4:31 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Judge denies three Harran defense motions

I agree with that statement.

-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of William Hoyt
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 4:21 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Judge denies three Harran defense motions

Wouldn't a conviction make all PIs, not just most, safer?

-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Russell Vernon
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 10:41 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Judge denies three Harran defense motions

Assuming this case ends up with a conviction that stands on appeal, I expect a large brain drain out of California...
We have the ONLY state of which I am aware with a law that criminalizes failure to follow occupational health & safety code...

-Russ

Russell Vernon, Ph.D.
Director
Environmental Health & Safety
University of California, Riverside
900 University Ave
Riverside, CA 92521
www.ehs.ucr.edu
russell.vernon**At_Symbol_Here**ucr.edu
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-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Ralph B. Stuart
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 4:27 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Judge denies three Harran defense motions

http://cenblog.org/the-safety-zone/

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge today denied three defense motions that could have dismissed a criminal case against University of California, Los Angeles, chemistry professor Patrick Harran. With the rulings going against the defense, the case moves closer to trial. The judge set the next court date for Oct. 3. Harran could go to trial within 60 days of that date.

Harran faces four felony charges of violating the state labor code. The charges stem from the death of research assistant Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji after a 2008 fire in Harran's lab. In November and December, 2012, Judge Lisa B. Lench heard testimony in a preliminary hearing on the case. She ruled in April that there was sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. After the preliminary hearing, the case was sent to Judge George G. Lomeli for trial.

Before today's hearing, Harran's attorneys submitted three motions: one asking the judge for a so-called Franks hearing, another called a demurrer, and a third to dismiss the charges based on lack of probable cause. The district attorney's office replied to each motion, and the defense then responded in writing to those replies.

More at the site above...

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart CIH
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Department of Environmental Health and Safety Cornell University

rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**cornell.edu

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