Prosecutors In GREAT WHITE Nightclub Fire Case Argue Against Dismissal

Eric Tucker of The Associated Press has issued the following report:

State prosecutors urged a judge not to dismiss charges against the owners of The Station nightclub where 100 people died in a fire and the former tour manager for the rock band whose pyrotechnics set off the blaze.

In court papers filed yesterday, prosecutors say there is no legal basis to throw out any of the manslaughter charges against Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, owners of West Warwick club, and Daniel Biechele, tour manager for GREAT WHITE.

The three men each face 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the Feb. 20, 2003 fire, which also injured more than 200 people. They asked the court in August to dismiss the charges.

The Derderians argued that 100 of the 200 manslaughter counts should be thrown out because they weren't give advance notice of fire code violations cited as a reason for the involuntary manslaughter charges. They also said that fire code violations can't be used as a legal basis for a manslaughter charge.

But prosecutors said yesterday that the Derderians violated the state's fire code by using flammable foam inside their club, creating a safety hazard that directly led to the deadly blaze.

Lawyers for the Derderdians said the brothers were not told during inspections of their club that the foam, which they used as soundproofing, violated the state's fire code.

The Derderians also said in August that Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan should dismiss the entire indictment because grand jurors who returned the charges were absent for portions of the proceedings. The other manslaughter charges are for criminal negligence.

Prosecutors rejected that argument, saying there was no requirement that grand jurors be present for each day of testimony and several members of the panel had an either perfect or near-perfect attendance record.

Biechele also challenged the indictment, saying among other things that the fire code only prohibited the use of fireworks — but not pyrotechnics — without a permit and that the violation could not serve as a basis for manslaughter charges.

The deadly fire began after sparks from GREAT WHITE's pyrotechnics display ignited the foam that the Derderians affixed on the walls of their nightclub.