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GREAT WHITE Nightclub Fire: Rhode Island Lifts Demand On Foam Testing

July 19, 2005

Tracy Breton of The Providence Journal has issued the following report:

Lawyers representing the victims of The Station nightclub fire will be allowed to go forward with destructive testing on a small amount of the soundproofing foam that was taken from the club after the deadly fire.

State prosecutors have retracted a condition that they tried to set last week that would have barred the victims' lawyers from destroying any foam seized from the club after the Feb. 20, 2003, fire.

According to a letter sent Friday from Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. to U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Martin, prosecutors erred in trying to set this condition on the foam's release.

"This is simply a misunderstanding by the state of our intention in this matter," Darigan wrote. "The foam to be transferred to the federal court may be used in any manner, for any purpose, under your direction," Darigan told Martin.

Darigan said in his letter that Assistant Attorney General Randall White "had previously verified with the defense counsel in the criminal case in Superior Court" that the civil lawyers could go ahead with destructive testing on the foam. "I hope this alleviates any misunderstanding regarding this important issue," he wrote.

Asked last night why prosecutors had tried to renege on an agreement to give the civil lawyers foam for destructive testing, Michael J. Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, said, "We made a mistake and we stand corrected. We're glad to have the court's guidance because this is a long and complicated case."

Read the rest of the article at Projo.com (free registration required).

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