The family of a crane operator killed in a 2008 Upper East Side tower crane collapse is furious that the equipment's millionaire owner has opted for a non-jury manslaughter trial.
"He's afraid the people of a jury will see right through him," said Maria Leo, whose son, Donald, died in the East 91st Street collapse along with a second worker.
Crane magnate James Lomma -- owner of New York Crane & Equipment Corp., one of the biggest construction equipment providers in the Northeast -- today formally waived his right to a jury trial, opting instead for a bench trial presided over by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Daniel Convisor.
The trial is scheduled for February 21.
"This shows his total disregard for the very people of this city who he puts at risk with his cranes," Leo family lawyer Bernadette Panzella.
Prosecutors have blamed the collapse of Lomma's Kodiak tower crane on a cheaply re-welded crack in the crane's turntable, a massive metal bearing which allows the boom and cab to pivot.
The faulty repair cracked again on the very May day that it was put back into service, causing the boom and cab -- with Donald trapped inside -- to plummet 200 feet to the ground, crushing the second worker, Ramadan Kurtaj, on the ground.