Digital Extra: The Station Fire

There are 135 tapes from the grand jury that prosecutors and the attorneys for three men charged in the deadly blaze will review.

01:00 AM EST on Saturday, March 13, 2004

BY TRACY BRETON
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- State prosecutors and lawyers representing the three men charged in last year's nightclub fire that killed 100 people agreed yesterday to share the task of transcribing 135 grand jury tapes that form the basis for the criminal case -- a necessary step in the process of preparing for trial.

Lawyers for Michael and Jeffrey Derderian, the two brothers who owned The Station nightclub in West Warwick; and Daniel Biechele, the former tour manager for the rock band Great White who set off the pyrotechnics that started the deadly blaze, came to the agreement during a chambers conference with Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan, who is presiding over the case.

Each of the three defendants is charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with last February's fire at the nightclub.

The pretrial discovery process, during which the prosecution and defense exchange information in preparation for trial, is just beginning and no trial date has been set. The next pretrial conference in the case is scheduled for April 30.

In addition to the grand jury tapes, which have now been turned over to the defense, lawyers for the defendants are seeking a mountain of evidence collected by prosecutors since the deadly fire. The requested information includes hundreds of witness statements from more than 300 people who survived the fire at The Station.

Kathleen M. Hagerty, one of Michael Derderian's lawyers, has also filed a motion -- which Darigan has not acted on -- to test some of the soundproofing foam that covered the walls and ceiling of the nightclub, foam that experts say ignited when the pyrotechnics were set off inside The Station.

Hagerty has also filed a motion with the court to allow her to issue subpoenas to the Town of West Warwick for documentary evidence and objects in preparation for trial.

In court papers, Hagerty says she is seeking "any and all tapes, notes, minutes, agendas or any other documentary evidence or recording" memorializing the appearance of nightclub owners Michael or Jeffrey Derderian before the West Warwick Town Council or any other town licensing agency. Darigan took no action on the motion yesterday.