FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2010
CONTACT:
ADA Brian Buckelew, DA Harris’ Office (415) 553-1383
Erica Derryck, DA Harris’ Office (415) 553-1167
ROOFING COMPANY OWNER AND FOREMAN INDICTED ON MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE IN WORKER’S DEATH
Company and owner also indicted on multiple counts of insurance fraud and tax evasion
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – District Attorney Kamala D. Harris announced today that a criminal grand jury has indicted Sam Hyung Goo Shim (SCN 212129-01), California C&R, Inc. (SCN 212129-02), and Jwa Young Kim (SCN 212129-03) on charges of felony involuntary manslaughter and felony violation of the Labor Code in connection with the death of Antonio Martinez on January 16, 2008. The Grand Jury returned the indictment on April 13, 2010. Shim and Kim were arraigned on April 22, 2010 and entered pleas of not guilty. According to court documents, Antonio Martinez died when he fell from the roof of a four-story apartment building in the Twin Peaks area of San Francisco. Antonio Martinez was working as a roofer for Shim’s company, California C&R, Inc., at the time. According to court documents, Martinez was not wearing a harness, there was no supervision of his work along the roof edge, and there were no railings, scaffolds or other barriers to prevent a fall 38 feet to the sidewalk. Sam Shim and his company, California C&R, Inc., were indicted for violation of Penal Code section 192(b) (involuntary manslaughter) and violation of Labor Code section 6425 (willful violation of Cal/OSHA order causing death). Also indicted on both counts in Martinez’s death was the foreman, Jwa Young Kim, who was present at the worksite at the time of Martinez’s fall, according to court documents.
The Grand Jury also returned indictments against Sam Shim and California C&R, Inc. for multiple counts of workers compensation premium fraud (Insurance Code section 11880) dating back to 1998, and tax evasion (Unemployment Insurance Code section 2117.5) dating back to 2005. According to court documents, Shim and California C&R, Inc. failed to report Martinez’s wages in payroll filings submitted to the State Compensation Insurance Fund and the Employment Development Department.
The case was referred to the District Attorney’s Office by the San Francisco office of Cal/OSHA, whose safety engineer, Chris Kirkham, conducted a thorough investigation of the incident. Department of Insurance Detective Betty Rodriguez investigated the fraud portion of the case.
Raymond Tang and Carlos Sanchez are the District Attorney Investigators who investigated the case. Max Peltz is the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the case.
On April 26, 2010, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Susan M. Breall denied defendants’ motions to reduce bail, which is currently set at $300,000. Defendants are next scheduled to appear on May 10, 2010 in Department 22 of the San Francisco Superior Court for arraignment of the corporation, California C&R, Inc.
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