David Lionetti (left) and his lawyer in court today
Pool company president to be arraigned for boy's death
by News Channel 8's Annie Rourke
Updated 12:15 PM
Stamford (WTNH) -- A pool company president charged in the drowning of a child was in court today to face manslaughter charges.
David Lionetti, president of Shoreline Pools, is accused of recklessly causing the death of six year old Zachary Cohn last year at his Greenwich home because his company did not install mandated safety devices in the pool.
Lionetti's attorney, Richard Meehan, says the company was not aware of the 2004 state law requiring the devices.
"Dave Lionetti, his brother Mark, the entire Shoreline Pool family, there's over 300 people in this company have tremendous sympathy for Mr. and Mrs. Cohn and the loss of this young man, they certainly never envisioned or believed that a tragedy of this nature would happen," Meehan said.
His first time before the judge at Stamford Superior Court was quick and uncomplicated. Lionetti did not enter a plea and his case was continued to August 12.
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Pool president in court - Annie Rourke reports
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Greenwich Time Update:
Here Are Martin Cassidy's Court Room Notes
The president of a Stamford pool company president charged in the drowning of a six-year-old town boy could not have foreseen the boy getting trapped in a suction valve in the pool he built, according to his lawyer. "I challenge you to find another pool entrapment case in Connecticut," Richard T. Meehan Jr. said. "I'm not sure there has been one." On Monday, Meehan questioned whether his client David Lionetti's failure to install state-required safety devices could be considered incriminating, arguing the statistical possibility that Zachary Archer Cohn might get stuck in a powerful suction drain was so remote. Prosecutors have charged Lionetti with second-degree manslaughter, claiming he knowingly flouted a state law requiring a specialized device to reduce the risk of entrapment. "It is one thing to say someone is ignorant of an unjustifiable risk in which case the charge would be negligent homicide," Meehan said. "It is another to say they were aware of an unjustifiable risk and did nothing." Lionetti was arraigned Monday on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in Stamford in Cohn's death, but did not enter a plea. The case was continued to August 12, when Lionetti plans to plead not guilty. Assistant State Attorney James Bernardi was not immediately available for comment yesterday, and Lionetti declined comment following the hearing. Meehan said the approval of pool plans by town building officials also supports the idea that by and large many professionals were unaware of the new mandate to install safety vacuum release systems, a device that cuts off suction to a drain when an object blocks it. "We have a design for the pool which was stamped by a civil engineer and a certificate of occupancy," Meehan said. "They also looked at this." Lionetti declined comment after the brief hearing. Police arrested the 53-year-old Lionetti last Monday, and charged him in the death of Zachary, who drowned last July 28 when his arm became caught in a pool-side intake valve, part of his family pool's filtration system. A protective grate for the valve was later found at the bottom of the pool. Zachary's parents, Brian and Karen Cohn, have filed a civil suit against Lionetti's Shoreline Pools, the town and various pool supply companies, alleging the pool violated state building codes because the drainage system did not have a safeguard to shut off suction if something blocked the drain. Cohn is the former president of SAC Capital LLC, a Stamford hedge fund. Last month Shoreline filed a motion seeking to delay the civil suit until any future criminal charges were resolved, arguing the exchange of evidence in civil court would jeopardize the due process rights of the company's owners and employees.
More to come later from the Greenwich Time:
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