Here's a link to the AP report of day 2 of the preliminary hearing for the charges against Professor Harran stemming from the death of Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji in January 2009. Cal/OSHA investigator Brian Baudendistel was on the stand; no cross-examination (I believe) by the defense yet.
His testimony will conclude today, which is Day 3 of the hearing.
UPDATE: The C&EN team's report is here.
His testimony will conclude today, which is Day 3 of the hearing.
UPDATE: The C&EN team's report is here.
Yeah, there's that name again:
ReplyDeleteAccording to Baudendistel’s interview recap, Harran said he was told that general university safety training was not available for Sangji and that he would be responsible for safety training. Harran said that he would normally assign a postdoc to oversee someone of Sangji’s level of experience. He mentioned postdoc Paul Hurley but Hurley was involved in other matters so no one was assigned to train Sangji. Harran discussed his expectations with Sangji and told her that, if she had questions, to seek out others in the lab, Baudendistel said.
The Harran explanation seems to be that he put an overworked incompetent who was in a rush to leave in charge of safety. "And if the postdoc brushes you off, new person with no experience, just find someone else in the lab to help you...."