Digital Extra: The Station Fire

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, October 22, 2005

BY ELIZABETH GUDRAIS
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- The judge handling the criminal cases against The Station nightclub owners and Great White's tour manager ruled against the defendants in two pretrial evidence motions yesterday, deciding that the defendants are not entitled to records they sought.

Daniel Biechele, the tour manager, requested copies of every pyrotechnic permit issued in Rhode Island from Jan. 1, 1980, to Feb. 20, 2003, the night fireworks inside The Station nightclub ignited soundproofing foam on the walls and set off a fire that killed 100 and injured 200 more.

Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, the club owners, had requested copies of all criminal violations prosecuted under the state fire code in which the defendant did not receive prior notice.

Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. agreed with the state's claim that the requests were irrelevant, overburdensome, and unnecessary for preparation for trial.

Each of the three defendants faces 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter. A grand jury indicted them on Dec. 9, 2003, under two theories of involuntary manslaughter: misdemeanor manslaughter and criminal negligence. Both are felonies; each charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

In Biechele's case, the alleged underlying misdemeanor is setting off pyrotechnics inside The Station without the required permit. "The defense anticipates the request will uncover few, if any, permits issued," Darigan wrote.

The number of permits issued in the last 23 years has no bearing on the case at hand, Darigan ruled. "Other individuals' failure to follow the statute's mandate does not change the defendant's duty under the statute," he wrote.

In the Derderians' case, the alleged underlying misdemeanor is a violation of a state fire-code regulation that required them to use flame-resistant acoustical material in their nightclub.

In the request for records of past criminal prosecutions under state fire code, the Derderians' lawyers speculated that few such records would exist, Darigan wrote, "because few, if any, prosecutions have commenced under the Fire Safety Code without prior notice and opportunity to cure."

Whether or not such prosecutions took place, Darigan wrote, prohibiting prosecution for code violations without prior notice "would be inappropriate under the statutes and defeat the very purpose for their enactment in the first instance."

Darigan also rejected the Derderians' claim that because the fire code "was phrased entirely in the passive voice and speaks to the nature of the material encompassed within the statute and not to the conduct of any individual," the fire code did not give rise to criminal prosecution and penalties.

"It is clear," Darigan wrote, "that the legislature intended for building owners, not just building inspectors, to use the Fire Safety Code to insure compliance with standards."

The court released Darigan's decisions after the close of business yesterday, and Biechele's lawyer, Thomas G. Briody, could not be reached. Reached at home last night, Kathleen M. Hagerty, a lawyer for the Derderians, said she had seen the decision, but declined comment, citing a gag order Darigan imposed on the lawyers for both sides.

In addition to the criminal cases, civil suits are pending in U.S. District Court, Providence, seeking monetary damages for the fire victims and their survivors.