Breaking News: Jury Finds Port Authority Negligent in 1993 Bombing

The six-person jury ruled that the Port Authority, the agency that owned the World Trade Center, was negligent by not properly maintaining the parking garage, where terrorists detonated more than a half-ton of explosives in a Ryder van. It said the negligence was a ``substantial factor'' in the allowing the bombing to occur.

The jury took just one day to reach its verdict. Several separate trials will now be held to determine money damages.

As the NYT notes:

At the heart of the case was a 1985 Port Authority security report, which said the garage was vulnerable to attack.

Eerily prescient, it held that car bombs were "fast becoming the weapon of choice for European terrorists," and that the public parking area in the trade center was "a definite security risk" because a vehicle filled with explosives could easily enter and park there.

The report recommended closing the public parking area of the garage, and suggested providing guards at entrances, restricting pedestrian entry and conducting random searches of vehicles.

The defense said the Port Authority had nonetheless decided not to close the garage because officials believed the risk of a bombing was low in the garage, compared with the shopping and pedestrian areas. Lawyers for the agency also argued that the bombing was not preventable, and that Port Authority should therefore not be held responsible for the deaths and injuries.

What's missing in these other pieces is the key issue - determining the liability of the various parties involved in the suit. And The New York Sun provides that tidbit - noting that the jury found the Port Authority 68% liable for the bombing. In other words, the Port Authority was twice as responsible for the terrorist act as the terrorists themselves. My guess is that the jury decided that the Port Authority was the deep pockets in this case, and acted accordingly. They saw the 1985 memo and figured that the Port Authority should have closed the parking garage, as if that would somehow stopped the terrorists from considering attacking the World Trade Center complex. Back at that time, it would not have been out of the realm of possibility for the terrorists to have driven the truck bomb into the lobby of one of the towers and blown itself up - trapping thousands and causing tremendous mayhem. Yet, the devious nature of the terrorists and their willingness to utilize all kinds of attacks was insufficient to sway the jury otherwise.

Six people were murdered, and over 1,000 were injured in the 1993 bombing. The terrorists involved in that attack are being held in prison. Their spiritual leader, Sheik Abdul Rahman, was represented by Lynne Stewart, who herself was found guilty earlier this year of passing on messages to Rahman's followers in violation of agreements with prosecutors. Her conviction was upheld earlier today.

That group of terrorists begat the 9/11 terrorists, who sought to complete what the 1993 bombers could not accomplish - to destroy the World Trade Center.

And this trial will have repercussions on the 9/11 trials that will eventually make their way to court. The government had arranged a victims compensation fund to resolve potential litigation and most families did agree to give up the right to sue the government entities involved, including the Port Authority, but a few decided that preserving the right to sue was important. Some of the same legal theories will be pursued in any trial relating to 9/11 as with the 1993 attack.

UPDATE:
The Port Authority plans to appeal the verdict. No kidding. You knew that was coming considering that the jury found that the Port Authority was more liable for the bombing than the terrorists themselves.

UPDATE 10/27:
Suitably Flip finds the decision abhorrent.

UPDATE 10/27:
Ace's Dr. Reo Symes wonders why the Port Authority got tagged with 68% responsibility for the terrorist bombing that killed six. I'm sure a lot of people are wondering that. After all, it's not like the Port Authority was alone in operating parking garages under or near major landmarks. And before the 1993 attacks, few if any provided the kind of security measures that became the norm after the attack.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, terrorism, abdul rahman.