UCLA professor to stand trial for fatal lab fire
By Yael Levin
Sept. 3, 2013 12:35 a.m.
A Los Angeles Countyjudge recently ordered UCLA chemistry professor Patrick Harran to stand trial to face felony charges in connection with the death of a UCLA researcher in a 2008 laboratory fire.
At the hearing, the court denied the defense’s request to dismiss the charges.
“While we are disappointed in the ruling, we respect it and are moving forward,” said Thomas O’Brien,Harran’s lawyer,after the hearing
Harran faces charges of willfully violating occupational safety and health standards. If convicted, he could face up to four and a half years in prison, O’Brien said.
Two years ago, Harran and the UC Board of Regents were charged with four felony counts after staff research assistant Sheharbano “Sheri” Sangji died after a chemical ignited her sweater in the campus laboratory where she worked.While she was handling t-butyl lithium, a highly flammable, air-sensitive chemical, the stopper of Sangji’s syringe came undone and the liquid spilled out and started the fire.
Sangji was not wearing a lab coat at the time, said university officials. She died 18 days later from injuries sustained in the fire.
The prosecution claims that Sangji died because Harran failed to properly enforce lab safety requirements, according to court documents. Charges against the regents were dropped last year as part of a plea deal that involved starting a scholarship fund in Sangji’s name, according to Daily Bruin archives.
Harran will return to court on Oct. 3, O’Brien said.Compiled by Yael Levin, Bruin senior staff.
