Leaseholder seeks to collect $1.1 billion

Jury selection is set to begin in second World Trade Center insurance trial.
NEW YORK (AP) -- World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein suffered a financial blow earlier this year when a federal jury ruled that for insurance purposes, the planes hitting the twin towers Sept. 11, 2001, constituted one event -- not two.
His lawyers were hoping that in the second round of the legal battle, a jury could be convinced otherwise. Jury selection was scheduled to begin today.
Silverstein argued in the first trial, which ended in May, that he should receive $7 billion, or twice the $3.5 billion insurance policy on the trade center. That trial focused on whether 13 insurers that provided the bulk of the trade center's coverage were bound by a brokers contract.
In the second phase, involving nine insurers, Silverstein stands to collect $1.1 billion more if his lawyers are successful in arguing the attack was two events. Opening statements are scheduled to begin next Monday.
The second trial may include more evidence about what occurred Sept. 11.
Freedom Tower
Silverstein has vowed to rebuild 10 million square feet of office space at ground zero regardless of how much money he collects from insurers. He and redevelopment officials plan to construct the Freedom Tower, other skyscrapers and cultural buildings within the next decade.
Silverstein -- who holds a 99-year lease on the property -- argued in the first trial that he should receive $7 billion, or twice the $3.5 billion insurance policy on the trade center, because the two jets that struck the towers 16 minutes apart represented two events.
In a Sept. 23 pretrial hearing before U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey, Silverstein's lawyers said they would call structural engineer Matthys Levy, co-author of the book "Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail," to testify about the sequence of events that caused the towers to fall.
Mukasey said Silverstein's lawyers would not be permitted to show the jurors any photos from Sept. 11 or to put on "a sound and light show" to try to influence them.
Silverstein, who could not be reached for comment Monday, has said he plans to appeal the first verdict and is confident of victory in the second trial. Mukasey has instructed lawyers involved in the case not to talk with reporters.
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