October trial date for deadly Hawaii dam breach
Jan 6, 2012, 9:51 PM
LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) – A tentative trial date has been set for a retired car dealer from Hawaii charged in the deaths of seven people swept from their homes after a century-old earthen dam broke on his property upstream.
Prosecutors and attorneys for James Pflueger have agreed to begin the trial Oct. 1.
The Garden Island (
http://bit.ly/xNuq1K) reported Friday the 85-year-old Pflueger did not appear in court for the hearing.
Manslaughter charges were upheld in June. Pflueger is accused of altering his property in a way that caused a Kauai dam to give way on March 14, 2006.
He has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of manslaughter.
Attorneys anticipate the trial to last six to eight weeks.
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