The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts voted 4-3 to reinstate a Boston construction company’s conviction in the 2000 death of a police officer who was run over by one of the firm’s dump trucks, according to the Cape Cod Times. A lower appeals court had reversed Angelo Todesca Corp.’s conviction, saying that the evidence was insufficient to prove negligence, but the state’s highest court ruled that a company could be held responsible for a crime committed by an employee in the course of his work. The incident took place Dec. 1, 2000 when a Todesca dump truck, which was not equipped with a working alarm to signal that it was backing up, backed over police officer Bradford Erickson, who was directing traffic at the site. Erickson eventually died as a result of his injuries. No one from the company will go to prison as a result of the ruling, but Todesca must pay a $2,500 fine. OSHA had previously fined the company $28,000 for related safety violations.
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