NEW YORK (AP) — A construction crane owner who was acquitted of manslaughter in a collapse that killed two workers is now facing a civil wrongful death trial over the accident, which helped spur new safety measures.

The slain workers’ families are suing crane owner James Lomma, his company and others involved in a Manhattan high-rise construction site where a crane snapped apart in May 2008. In opening statements Friday, lawyers for the families lambasted Lomma, whose 2012 acquittal they saw as a blow.