by Anthony Pascale
A judge overturned Tuesday the conviction of a Bronx property manager convicted of homicide in connection with the deaths of two city firefighters.
The Bronx State Supreme Court judge ruled there was not enough evidence to convict Cesar Rios.
Rios was convicted last year of criminally-negligent homicide and reckless endangerment for constructing illegal walls in a Tremont apartment building.
The court said prosecutors failed to prove that Rios knew rooms had been illegally subdivided at the time of the fire.
"There was no evidence in this trial that my client had any idea of what was going on in those apartments," said Rios' attorney David Goldstein.
A different jury acquitted two tenants of similar charges, saying the blame was on the management.
Six firefighters fighting a 2005 fire in that building were forced to jump to safety because of the illegal partitions.
Firefighters John Bellew and Curtis Meyran died from injuries sustained during the jump.
Meyran's widow and one of the firefighters who survived the leap were inside the courtroom for the decision. They say prosecutors proved their case and are were disgusted by the judge's decision.
"They were killed in the line of duty. They gave everything for the City of New York and nothing was done about it. The evidence was there," said retired FDNY firefighter Jeffrey Cool.
"Sixty-one months today, we lost him. This was a waste of time. It was such an abuse of the system. And this liberal judge was just ridiculous," said Meyran's widow, Jeanette Meyran.
In response to the ruling, the Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy released the following statement:
"Today's unfortunate ruling means that no one will be held accountable for a fire in an illegally subdivided apartment that caused the death of two New York City Firefighters and seriously injured four others. There are thousands of illegally subdivided occupancies throughout the five boroughs. The justice system must find a way to enforce building laws that protect firefighters and hold those accountable who violate these laws."
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