Lawyers for band meet with prosecutors
The focus of the
fire investigation shifted yesterday away from the ruins of The Station
nightclub to a National Guard complex in East Greenwich and to Town Hall
in West Warwick.
Behind the gates of Camp Fogarty, three members of the band Great White
and their tour manager answered subpoenas for the grand jury
investigation into the fire that killed 97 people last week.
It was the first time the grand jury had convened in what is expected to
be a lengthy investigtation into the blaze at The Station, in West
Warwick, the fourth deadliest club fire in the nation's history.
Lead singer Jack Russell and band members Mark Kendall and Eric Powers
entered the complex in cars yesterday morning. Their tour manager, Dan
Biechele, also was summoned to the grand jury.
Lawyers for the band members said that none of them testified before the
grand jury yesterday. Instead, their lawyers met with five prosecutors
assigned to the investigation: Deputy Atty. Gen. Gerald Coyne, Paul
Daly, chief of the criminal division; and veteran prosecutors Randy
White, William Ferland and Michael Stone.
It's not known what they talked about, but in general, defense lawyers
meet with prosecutors to figure out what kinds of questions might be
posed to their clients. The lawyers could seek some type of immunity
agreement that would allow their clients to testify without fear of
being criminally charged. They could also appear before the grand jury
and invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Or
they could testify.
Edward C. Roy Jr., former president of the Rhode Island Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers, told the Associated Press that he would advise
both the club owners and the band members to invoke their Fifth
Amendment right to refuse to testify.
"It's such a catastrophic loss of life. Realistically, with 97 deaths,
no lawyer is going to let a client talk to law enforcement," Roy said.
It's unclear when, or if, the band members and tour manager will testify
in the broadening investigation.
"I'm not going to comment on the status of the grand jury
investigation," said Thomas G. Briody, Biechele's lawyer. "My client
appeared today, but he did not testify today."
Lawyer Neil Philbin, of Wakefield, who is representing Russell, said
that the lead singer had flown in from California to Rhode Island and he
had not had enough time to speak to him.
Philbin said he needs more time before he decides whether Russell will
meet with investigators or testify before the grand jury.
"Decisions in that regard will be made by the end of the week," Philbin
said.
Superior Court Presiding Justice Joseph F. Rodgers Jr. drove into Camp
Forgarty yesterday morning. Though judges do not typically play active
roles in grand jury investigations, a Superior Court judge must be in
the building when grand jurors convene. Sometimes the attorney general's
office asks judges to grant witnesses immunity from prosecution to
compel their testimony.
THE MEDIA were restricted from the Fogarty grounds, leaving a swarm of
television cameras from all over the Northeast set up across Route 2
from the entrance -- with four lanes of traffic passing in between.
Because of the terrorist alert raised two weeks ago, the complex had
heightened security. Camp Fogarty's 100 employees and everyone involved
with the investigation had to first pass a checkpoint manned by a state
trooper and a National Guard military policeman and then negotiate a
small maze of Jersey barriers.
Lt. Col. Michael McNamara, a National Guard spokesman, said the grand
jury and investigators were using two classrooms in a brick building on
the grounds. McNamara said he does not know how long the Superior Court
will be using the complex. It is the first time in at least eight years
that a Rhode Island National Guard complex was used for such purposes,
he said.
Members of the band Great White were seen were seen entering the complex
before 9 a.m. and leaving at about 12:15 p.m.
RUSSELL WENT to the West Warwick police station yesterday, but did not
talk to the police, Philbin said. He said the only reason the singer
went there was to pick up some personal belongings -- "musical
instruments, books, stuff of that nature" -- that were inside the band's
leased tour bus. Investigators impounded the bus last Friday in the
hours after the fire.
Other members of Great White also picked up belongings from the bus.
Eric Powers, Great White's drummer, is being represented by Peter
DiBiase, a Providence lawyer.
Asked whether Powers would testify, DiBiase said: "I really can't go
into that."
Guitarist Mark Kendall also answered his subpoena and reported to the
grand jury. He did not testify and is in the process of retaining a
Rhode Island-based lawyer.
THE GRAND jurors did hear from several unidentified witnesses and they
issued subpoenas seeking documents related to the investigation.
The grand jury has yet to subpoena the owners of the club, Michael and
Jeffrey Derderian, who have become central figures in the expanding
criminal investigation.
Jeffrey Derderian, a television news reporter, briefly spoke to
investigators in the hours after the fire. Michael Derderian has never
met with them. Atty. Gen. Patrick C. Lynch has repeatedly called for the
brothers to sit down with investigators for extensive interviews.
In a news conference yesterday, Lynch said, "another 24 hours have gone
by without questions being answered."
Kathleen M. Hagerty, Michael Derderian's lawyer, brought documents that
she believes are relevant to the case to the attorney general's office
during a meeting yesterday.
Michael Healey, a spokesman for Lynch, said Hagerty "provided a small
number of documents, and we reiterated our desire she make her client
available for an interview." He said he could not speak to the substance
of the documents.
Hagerty could not be reached for comment, but former Atty. Gen. Jeffrey
B. Pine, who is representing Jeffrey Derderian, told The Associated
Press that materials dealing with whether the band had permission to use
pyrotechnics had been given to the attorney general's office.
"I believe some of the documents corroborate the fact the permission was
not given," he said.
On Sunday night, investigators searched Michael Derderian's house in
Narragansett and seized documents relating to the operation of the
nightclub.
TWO OTHER nightclub workers who survived the blaze said they had yet to
receive grand jury subpoenas.
Paul Vanner, the club's sound manager and stage coordinator, and Kevin
Beese, the club's manager, had not been served subpoenas. Ronald J.
Resmini, Vanner's lawyer, said he expects his client will be called to
testify.
Meanwhile, a team of 40 federal, state and local investigators continued
to gather evidence.
In the West Warwick town offices, investigators questioned witnesses and
survivors in the police station and neighboring Town Hall. Two uniformed
police officers sat with witnesses on metal chairs in the council
chambers.
About 5:30 p.m., Donna Innamorati and Alton Ramos, who suffered minor
injuries in the fire, walked out of the police station. They had been
questioned by investigators, but they refused to talk about it.
"I don't really want to get into it again," said Innamorati. "It's
really difficult."
Teams of investigators also fanned out across the state chasing leads
and tracking down other witnesses.
On Tuesday morning, two investigators stopped by The Providence Phoenix,
an alternative newspaper on Chestnut Street in the city's jewelry
district. The paper is a primary source of news on the national and
local music scene.
Associate Publisher Stephen L. Brown said that state police Detective
Timothy G. Sanzi and West Warwick Detective Michael P. Ribbing wanted to
know whether The Station had run advertisements featuring bands that use
pyrotechnic displays.
Brown said he complied with the detectives' request for six months of
advertisements.
"They wanted to analyze them," Brown said. "They are clearly looking to
see if the club promoted pyro in any way, shape or form."
Brown said that he did not review the advertisements, but he does not
believe the nightclub had run such ads in recent months. He did say he
remembered that in 1999, a Kiss tribute group played at The Station and
ran an ad announcing that they use "bombs," a code word for pyrotechnics.
Michael and Jeffrey Derderian bought the nightclub in March 2000.
Brown said the detectives did not have a search warrant.
"I told them I'd do anything I could to help," he said.
With staff reports from Liz Anderson, Mark Arsenault, Tracy Breton,
Zachary R. Mider, Tom Mooney, and Paul Edward Parker.
