Rapetti Cleared In NYC Crane Collapse

NEW YORK (CBS) - He's not guilty on all counts.

The crane rigger charged in the 2008 collapse that killed seven people in Midtown walked out of court Thursday a free man.

The judge found him not guilty -- 20 times.

CBS 2 HD was there, and found out how one collapse survivor is reacting.

William Rapetti stoically faced the cameras Thursday morning as he walked into superior court to learn his fate on manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges in the deaths of seven people caught beneath the wreckage of his crane collapse.

The judge came back on all counts not guilty. A dozen of Rapetti's family members cried and hugged upon hearing the verdict.

"Nobody's gonna go, ya know, popping champagne. It's more like, ok, an innocent man's not gonna be put in jail," attorney Arthur Aidala said.

Rapetti had no words of remorse for the victims as he walked out of court Thursday, but earlier in the four-week trial would only say: "I have faith in God that the will of God will never take me where the grace of God will not protect me."

Rapetti was the only one criminally charged. Much of the trial was about technical issues of how securely the 200-foot tall crane was attached to the building and whether it was Rapetti's responsibility.

John Gallegos is one of the two-dozen injured by the collapse and still has scars where his legs were shattered by tons of rubble when he was buried alive. His reaction to the not guilty verdict came swiftly.

"I hope they do the right thing and find who really make the mistakes," Gallegos said.

Gallegos spent nine months in a wheelchair. He's now learning to walk again while looking for work.

"I almost died. For them it is nothing. Seven people died and for them it is like nothing," Gallegos said.

One long lasting effect of the accident is a slew of new regulations meant to make crane construction safer in New York City as well as the reorganization of several top spots within the Department of Buildings.

On Thursday Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said the Department of Buildings needs to do more to prevent future accidents. He's calling for stepped-up inspections, through the creation of an independent office assigned to do only that