Trial Over Radiohead Stage Collapse Resets

The long-running case over a June 2012 stage collapse that killed a drum tech and injured three other workers has been declared a mistrial and will either be re-tried or be dropped for taking too long.

John Davisson – Radiohead
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.

The stage collapse during Radiohead’s 2012 gig at Downsview Park in Toronto resulted in a trial against Live Nation, Optex Staging and engineer Domenic Cugliari, who face 13 charges for violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act, according to the CBC.

The charges were brought against the defendants in 2013 and the trial has run long due to the technical nature of the case.

While proceedings were under way Justice Shaun Nakatsuru, who was overseeing the trial, was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court in 2016. Despite that the trial was due to end soon, Nakatsuru decided he no longer had jurisdiction in the matter, and declared a mistrial, meaning any new trial would need to start over with a new judge.

The defense wants to have the case thrown out for unreasonable delays, though Nakatsuru already ruled once that the technical nature of the case made it permissible for it to extend beyond the normal limits for such trials, the Toronto Star reported.

If the case is retried, the Star reports a new trial is penciled to begin Sept. 5 and should run until May 2018.