PROVIDENCE -- The West Warwick fire marshal raised the capacity of The Station nightclub twice in three months because one of the club's new owners asked "if the building could hold 400 people," according to court filings made public yesterday.

Fire Marshal Denis P. Larocque, who had just set the nightclub's capacity at 317 in December 1999, responded to the request from club owner Michael A. Derderian by applying a new formula that resulted in a capacity of 404 in March 2000, according to prosecutors.

Almost three years later, on Feb. 20, 2003, the nightclub caught fire during a rock concert, ultimately killing 100 people. Derderian and his brother, Jeffrey A. Derderian, the club's other owner, are charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fire. Michael Derderian's trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 5, with his brother's to follow.

The account of how Larocque came to increase the club's legal capacity was included in court papers made public yesterday that will be the subject of a hearing this morning in Superior Court.

Among other revelations in the papers is Michael Derderian's willingness to concede that 458 people were inside the nightclub when it caught fire.

Prosecutors also revealed that they plan to show jurors photographs of the bodies of fire victims as they were found inside the nightclub.

Today's hearing is on eight requests, called motions, from Derderian that deal with limiting what evidence will be presented to the jury at his trial. The hearing was announced on Monday, but the motions did not become available until yesterday.

Larocque's motivation in raising the capacity of The Station has been one of the unanswered questions in the nightclub tragedy. Derderian has asked that Larocque and other officials be barred from testifying about the nightclub's capacity. In their objection to Derderian's motion, prosecutors outline what prompted the increase.

In November 1999, West Warwick's police chief asked Larocque to calculate the nightclub's capacity, according to a prosecutors' summary of Larocque's testimony to a grand jury in the case. At that time, the club was owned by Howard Julian.

In December 1999, Larocque inspected the club, took measurements and calculated the capacity. The nightclub could hold 253 people in its normal configuration and 317 when tables and chairs were removed from certain lounge areas.

The last time the capacity had been calculated was in 1991, when it was set at 225.

Then, according to the prosecutors' filing, Larocque returned to the club on March 2, 2000, for an inspection as part of the transfer of the club's liquor license from Julian to the Derderians.

During that inspection, Michael Derderian told Larocque that "he was aware of what the occupancy of the building was from the previous owner" and asked whether the building could hold 400 people.

Larocque told the grand jury that he calculated the capacity at 404, with tables and chairs removed from the building. The 27-percent increase resulted from classifying the entire club as standing room, which allows more people in the same space.

Larocque told the grand jury that he informed Michael Derderian in person of the revised number sometime between March 2 and March 21, 2000.

In his motion, Derderian argues that discussion of the capacity of the club should be barred because Larocque no longer has an original copy of a memorandum he wrote to the town's police chief discussing the new limit of 404. Instead, a portion of that memorandum was reprinted from Larocque's computer.

In their objection, prosecutors argue that court rules allow for the reprinted memorandum to be admitted as evidence. They also say that, regardless of the memorandum, Larocque, who has since resigned as fire marshal but remains with the Fire Department, is qualified to testify about the club's capacity.

Although Derderian concedes that 458 people were inside the nightclub at the time of the fire, he is asking Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. to bar testimony on how many people were inside the club. Instead, Derderian has offered to stipulate -- agree on the official court record -- that 458 is accurate. Derderian's motion says it would be a waste of the court's time for prosecutors to present witness after witness to establish how many people were inside the club.

Prosecutors, in objecting to Derderian's motion, said they plan to have 162 survivors of the fire testify that they were in the club and list who they were there with. "It is understandable in this case why the defendant would prefer to have the state prove its case in a sterile fashion -- he has offered to stipulate to a number of facts present here in an effort to deprive the jury of a true and accurate picture of this horrific event."

David M. Zlotnick, a professor at the Ralph R. Papitto School of Law at Roger Williams University, said a judge would typically strike a compromise on this request and allow only some of the 162 survivors to testify.

Prosecutors are usually reluctant to stipulate to a dry fact that leaves out dramatic details. At the same time, "You don't need 162 versions of 'There was a fire, everybody died, and the rest of us ran out.' "

Derderian is also seeking to block prosecutors from showing photographs to the jury, arguing, "the photographs are graphic and can only serve to upset and anger jurors, resulting in prejudice to the defendant."

Prosecutors said photographs that they plan to offer as evidence fall into seven broad categories, only two of which could be argued to be prejudicial: photos of victims at the scene of the fire and autopsy photos. Even those should be shown to jurors, prosecutors argued, because their value as evidence is not outweighed by the danger of prejudice.

Prosecutors described the photos of victims at the scene and how they plan to use them: "These photographs document the removal of the deceased from The Station. These photographs assist in proving the cause and manner of death of each victim and show where the victims' bodies were recovered from inside the nightclub and the positions in which they were found. The latter is critical evidence of the state's allegation that the defendant's . . . blocking of one of the building's exits contributed to the deaths of the 100 fire victims."

Zlotnick again said some sort of compromise would be typical, with a judge selecting a limited number of photographs that can be shown to jurors.

In discussing the photographs, prosecutors revealed for the first time that firefighters had pulled seven bodies from the front door of the club, even as they were battling the fire. Clubgoers had become trapped in a pile inside the front door. The seven bodies removed by firefighters were laid in the nightclub's parking lot, according to prosecutors.

Today's hearing was set for 9:30 a.m. in courtroom 2 of the Licht Judicial Complex.

pparker@projo.com / (401) 277-7360