Charges upheld in deadly Center City collapse

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A judge has rejected a request to throw out conspiracy counts against two men charged in connection with a Philadelphia building collapse that killed six people.

The attorneys for Griffin Campbell and Sean Benschop attempted to have those charges dropped, but on Tuesday their pleas were denied by Judge Ben Lerner.

Benschop and Campbell were charged in the horrific building collapse last June that left six people dead and 13 more injured when an unsupported back wall being torn down fell into the adjacent Salvation Army store.

Campbell faces six counts of third-degree murder and Benschop is charged with six counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Benschop, a machine operator, is accused of being high on marijuana and painkillers while on the demolition job at 22nd and Market streets. He is facing a third degree murder charge and six counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors say the collapse was the result of Benschop and Campbell ignoring standard safety procedures despite warnings that the excavator could bring debris crashing on the store that was full of employees and customers.

Lawyers for both men said their clients are low-level scapegoats.

"Why are two African-Americans, the bottom of the power struggle, the bottom of the totem pole financially, politically, and any way you can imagine - economically - are the only two people with criminal charges," said Campbell's lawyer, William Hobson.

"He wasn't on the scene every day because he wasn't, again, in charge of the means and methods of demolition, he didn't know what other extras and other measures had taken place. You can't charge him with knowledge he doesn't have," said Benschop's lawyer, Daine Grey.

However, the prosecution said both men were demolition veterans, who knew it was not safe to proceed without safety measures in place.

"We're talking about leaving a free-standing, unsupported wall looming over the Salvation Army, and then using an enormous, heavy piece of equipment rumbling around, causing vibrations, knocking into parts of the building," said Asst. DA Jennifer Selber.

Campbell's wife, Kim Campbell, says her husband, a father of four, is not a murderer.

"Right now it's a struggle, we're struggling," she said. "I don't think that he's the monster that the media says he is. I know he's not."

Benschop and Campbell were both held over for trial.

Both men are also charged with six counts of involuntary manslaughter.