More than two years after a fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick killed 100 people, the club's owners still await trial in three separate lawsuits. Station owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian each face 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter in a criminal case, in addition to separate charges in civil and workers' compensation suits.
The club caught fire within minutes on Feb. 20, 2003 after a pyrotechnic display used in a performance by the rock band Great White ignited highly flammable foam the Derderians had installed as soundproofing material. Of the 440 people inside the club, 100 died and more than 200 were injured in what became the largest fire in Rhode Island history.
In December 2003, a grand jury indicted the Derderians and Daniel Biechele, then tour manager for Great White, with 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter on the grounds of criminal negligence and another 100 counts on a misdemeanor charge. All three defendants are pleading not guilty.
To prove criminal negligence, state prosecutors must demonstrate that the defendants knew they were putting people in jeopardy but chose to ignore the risks and disregard the crowd's safety.
Misdemeanor manslaughter charges imply less criminal intent and allege that the defendants committed petty offenses that precipitated the deaths. The Derderians were indicted on misdemeanor charges for fire code violations, while Biechele failed to acquire a necessary permit for the pyrotechnic display. Although the misdemeanors themselves are undisputed, whether they can be used as foundation for additional manslaughter counts remains at issue.
"There is no history at all of these charges being filed in recent Rhode Island history," said Andrew Horwitz, law professor at Roger Williams University School of Law. "The statute (they are based on) really is an anachronism."
In pretrial motions last week, the three defendants requested that the misdemeanor charges be dropped. Lawyers for the defendants argued that although the flammable foam violated fire regulations, the Derderians were never warned of its danger. West Warwick Fire Marshal Denis Larocque has said that he inspected The Station more than once and never noticed the foam or cited it as a violation.
A court spokeswoman refused to speculate as to when Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan might hand down his decision on the request for dismissal. She confirmed that the trial is scheduled to begin sometime next year.
Michael Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Lynch '87, said the two-year process preceding the trial is not unusual. Months of pretrial discovery - in which the prosecution shows the court all witnesses, evidence and statements it could use in trial - began after the December 2003 indictments and ended this spring.
The defense then began its pretrial motions, but proceedings were held up for two months when the offices of Derderian lawyer Kathleen Hagerty flooded in June. Proceedings resumed with a battle over how much flammable foam the prosecution could use as evidence, and now center on Darigan's upcoming decision regarding the misdemeanor charges' validity.
Horwitz said that there is no legal basis for granting the dismissal, but that the misdemeanor charges are nonetheless obscure. "In my personal view, what we're watching is a prosecution really stretching and bending and struggling to find criminal responsibility," Horwitz said.
"It's a challenge to find an appropriate charge" for the fire, he said.
"From our perspective, the defendants were indicted, and we believe that the cases that the grand jury independently investigated and brought out ... are legitimate cases," Healey said, adding that the Station fire remains "definitely one of the very biggest cases we have."
"A couple of years on, for some Rhode Islanders, it's old news," said Hank Sennott, a spokesman for the United Way, which established the Station Fire Relief Fund in 2003. "But for the families impacted, it's never going to be old news."
The Derderians said in court documents that they each have less than $50,000 in personal assets and estimated debts of more than $100 million when they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.
Soon after, the brothers filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection from creditors, listing 500 possible creditors who might lay claim to their remaining assets, including families of those killed in the blaze along with banks and credit card companies. Chapter 7 typically eliminates all civil claims against the filers.
Consequently, the civil suit and workers' compensation case against the Derderians have not been dismissed, but both have been put on hold. The criminal case is not affected by the defendants' financial situation.
Families of Station employees who died in the fire filed the workers' compensation suit to demand more than $200,000 in unpaid insurance from the Derderians, but how they will be paid is unclear. Those victims and family members who are plaintiffs in the civil suit may be more likely to receive compensation because some of the defendants - including a beer company and radio station WHJY, which promoted the Great White concert - are more capable of payment. Still, with over 300 claimants seeking compensation and the civil suit on hold, some individuals affected by the fire have low expectations for the legal outcomes.
"I honestly don't expect to receive anything," said fire survivor Gina Gauvin.
Gauvin lost her ear and left hand and suffered burns on more then 60 percent of her body in the blaze. A single mother with three children, Gauvin said she has yet to pay all of her $100,000 in medical bills.
"Do the families deserve to be financially compensated for their loss? Sure," Horwitz said. "But if the Derderians can't do it and they weren't properly insured, that may just be another part of the tragedy."
