Lawyers for Jeffrey and Michael Derderian and Daniel M. Biechele have filed a motion seeking to dismiss 100 counts of misdemeanor manslaughter charges.

09:46 AM EDT on Tuesday, September 13, 2005

BY JACK PERRY
projo.com Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- A Superior Court judge has scheduled a hearing Oct. 28 to determine whether some of the manslaughter charges should be dropped against defendants in The Station nightclub fire criminal case.

Defense attorneys last month filed a motion seeking to dismiss the 100 counts of misdemeanor manslaughter charges against club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian and also Daniel M. Biechele, the road manager for the rock band Great White.

Biechele set off the band's pyrotechnics, which ignited foam used to sound-proof the West Warwick club. The Feb. 20, 2003, fire consumed the club in minutes. One hundred people died, and more than 200 were injured.

The Derderians and Biechele each face 200 counts of manslaughter -- two for each death charged under two separate legal definitions of manslaughter. All three have pleaded not guilty.

The misdemeanor manslaughter charges against the Derderians allege that the club owners committed a misdemeanor -- violating the fire code in their club -- that resulted in the 100 deaths.

The state alleges that the Derderians insulated their club with flammable packing foam, which is forbidden by the fire code.

Kathleen M. Hagerty, the Derderians' lawyer who filed the motion on their behalf, argues that "unknowingly violating the regulatory fire code" is not a sufficient basis to charge somebody with manslaughter.

She notes in her motion that West Warwick inspectors visited the club "numerous times while the foam was present" and that the foam "was never mentioned or cited by these trained, professional building and fire-safety officials charged with the duty and responsibility to inspect."

Biechele filed a similar motion seeking to dismiss the 100 counts of manslaughter he faces under the theory of misdemeanor manslaughter. In his case, the underlying misdemeanor is setting off pyrotechnics inside The Station without a permit.

Biechele also filed a motion to dismiss the case against him "for lack of fair warning," claiming that state law governing pyrotechnics at the time of the fire lacked "any clear definition as to the scope of duty borne by Mr. Biechele."

Judge Francis Darigan announced the hearing date yesterday after a 50-minute meeting with the lawyers in his chambers.

Even if the motions are successful, the defendants will each face 100 counts of manslaughter under a separate legal theory of criminal negligence.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Tom Mooney