Business Notes Trials

"All of the defendants are going to pay for it harshly," said Illinois Judge Ronald J.P. Banks last week as he sentenced three officials of the now defunct Film Recovery Systems Inc. of Elk Grove Village, Ill., to 25-year prison terms. Banks had earlier ruled that the managers were guilty of murdering Employee Stefan Golab, who died in 1983 after inhaling poisonous cyanide fumes inside the plant. During the trial, F.R.S. workers testified that their employers had not warned them of cyanide's dangers. In fact, they said, at management's behest some skull-andcrossbones warning symbols had been scraped off cyanide drums. Defense counselors, on the other hand, insisted that their clients, who had worked at the plant themselves, were unaware of the health hazards.

Some legal scholars, observing that there was no evidence that the managers actually sought to kill Golab, have questioned the murder charge. They claim that it should have been involuntary manslaughter. Not surprisingly, the defense also stressed the issue of intent. Said Defense Attorney Elliott Samuels: "The objective of criminal law is to impose sanctions for intentional wrongdoing. The sentence is outrageous."