Deutsche trial ends with final acquittal

A judge Wednesday acquitted a Long Island construction supervisor of homicide charges in the fatal 2007 fire at the Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero, ending a controversial effort to assign criminal blame in the tragic death of two firefighters.

The not guilty verdicts were a vindication for Mitchel Alvo, 58, of Freeport, an asbestos abatement manager, and followed jury acquittals last week of two other midlevel managers working on the demolition of a building damaged in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed hundreds of other firemen.

"It's been rough," said an emotional but subdued Alvo, hugging his tearful fiancee after the verdict. "I'm grateful after a four-year ordeal that there's finally a just verdict. I'm thankful I'll be able to start making a living again."

Alvo declined to discuss complaints from jurors last week that prosecutors pursued low-level scapegoats, but not the FDNY and building owners for allowing hazardous conditions. He did offer condolences to the families of firemen Joe Graffagnino, 33, and Robert Beddia, 53, who were killed.

"Through all of this, when I started feeling sorry for myself I would always remember that two men died," he said. "My heart goes out to their families."

Prosecutors charged that Alvo and the others caused the deaths because they cut a basement standpipe, depriving firefighters of water when they went to fight a 17th-floor fire. The defendants said they didn't know the pipe was a standpipe, and also argued that a faulty ventilation system -- not lack of water -- caused the deaths.

State Supreme Court Justice Rena Uviller found both Alvo and his employer, the John Galt Corp. of the Bronx, not guilty of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, but did convict the company of reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor. The maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine.

The outcome followed a 10-week trial, and marked the latest in a string of reversals for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., whose office also lost a high-profile rape case against two NYPD cops and has suffered setbacks in the sex-assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Vance, in a statement, contended there was a silver lining to the prosecution. "For more than three years since the indictment was filed in late 2008, the case has raised consciousness and awareness about fire and building safety," he said.

Others weren't impressed. Joseph Graffagnino, whose son died, said he always felt more culpable parties were let off because of politics, including FDNY officials who skipped legally required inspections, general contractor Bovis Lend Lease, and owner the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.

"The jury and judge saw through the smokescreen -- they were trying to railroad these guys," Graffagnino said. "As we've said all along, the people who should have been held accountable were never held accountable."

Daniel Murphy, Manhattan trustee for the Uniformed Firefighters Association, echoed that view. "Do they pursue this any further, or is this the end? The gut feeling is that a lot of people should have been held accountable and they really went after the lower echelon."

Alvo was terse with reporters at the courthouse, but more talkative at his home in Freeport, telling a reporter that the end of the case marked a new beginning for him.

"Once you're under any kind of investigation, the city frowns on any company that'll hire you," he said. "So, I was pretty much stuck. Now, it's over, and hopefully I can get back on with my life in short order." With Jeremy Schneider