by Rob Morrison
NEW YORK (CBS) - A judge on Tuesday overturned negligent homicide and reckless endangerment convictions against the manager of an apartment building where tenants constructed a labyrinth of illegal walls that forced two firefighters to jump to their deaths to escape a surging blaze.
Jeanette Meyran tries hard to keep the memory of her husband's service alive in her Long Island home, but she feels that memory is diminished by Tuesday's decision.
"Yeah, I am angry. I'm hurt. I'm offended. I'm insulted. We all are. It's a slap in the face," Meyran said.
Six firefighters were trapped in the building on Jan. 23, 2005. Lieutenant Curtis Meyran, 46, and Firefighter John Bellew, 37, died after jumping from a fourth-floor window. Two others who jumped survived, and the other two also escaped.
The case highlighted the persistent fire hazard of using temporary walls for illegal apartment conversions -- a common problem in a city where rents are high and space always in demand.
The apartments rented by the two tenants charged in the case were turned into a deadly maze so they could make extra cash renting rooms, prosecutors charged.
The firefighters were trapped in the building as black smoke made it nearly impossible to see. As flames licked as their bodies and a wall of fire came toward them, the four firefighters jumped.
Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association of New York, called the ruling unfortunate.
"There are thousands of illegally subdivided occupancies throughout the five boroughs," he said. "The justice system must find a way to enforce building laws that protect firefighters and hold those accountable who violate these laws."
Building manager Cesar Rios and the owner were convicted of reckless homicide and reckless endangerment for allowing the illegal construction.
But on Tuesday Bronx Judge Margaret Clancy overturned the 2009 convictions for lack of evidence. Rios' attorney, David J. Goldstein, applauded the decision.
"I think it was the only decision she could have legally made," Goldstein said. "I think it took a lot of courage. There was absolutely no evidence, none whatsoever, that either of these defendants knew what was going on inside these apartments."
But Jeanette Meyran doesn't buy it.
"He knew. It's that simple. It's an insult to your intelligence. It's an insult to everyone's intelligence as far as I'm concerned. It's a flat out lie," she said.
Retired firefighter Jeff Cool, one of the four who survived that infamous blaze, called Tuesday's decision the worst day of his life.
"To me it's just a dagger to the heart," Cool said. "A grand jury seen it fit to indict these people, and convicted them and then the judge just overturned it."
Last year, in a separate trial, two tenants were acquitted of similar charges stemming from the fire which means no one has been held responsible for the deaths of Lt. Meyran and Firefighter Bellew.
The Bronx District Attorney's office did not immediately comment.
Clancy presided over the trial last year. The defense asked for the case to be dismissed before the jury deliberated, and Clancy reserved the right to decide later, which she did Tuesday.
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