No verdict in trial over Long Island laborer’s death

A Manhattan Supreme Court jury has ended its deliberations without a verdict in the latest trial stemming from the death of Carlos Moncayo, a laborer for a Long Island excavation company who died in a cave-in on a Manhattan construction site last year.

Judge Ruth Pickholz declared a mistrial after jurors announced they remained deadlocked on the fifth day of deliberations on charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment against site supervisor Alfonso Prestia.

Prestia’s employer, general contractor Harco Construction, was convicted by a judge on all three charges after a bench trial earlier this year. Charges are still pending against Moncayo’s employer, Sky Materials of Calverton, and foreman Wilmer Cueva.

Prosecutors claimed Prestia, like his employer Harco, recklessly ignored warnings of unsafe practices and let Moncayo be sent into an unshored 14-foot trench. Prestia testified on his own behalf, and his lawyer said he did everything he could to make the site safer.

After the mistrial was declared, a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the office planned to retry the case.