Ghost Ship trial will probably start in ’19

A jury trial in the Ghost Ship fire case probably will not begin until 2019, attorneys for the two defendants said following a brief hearing Friday in Oakland.

The need to arrange a trial timeline came after Alameda County prosecutors told a judge and defense lawyers this week that they will no longer negotiate any plea agreements.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer last week rejected a deal for Derick Almena, master tenant of the warehouse where 36 people died in the 2016 fire, because he wasn’t convinced of Almena’s remorse. Since the plea agreement was a package deal with defendant Max Harris, creative director of the artist collective, his also was set aside.

The men had each pleaded no contest to 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter as part of the rejected deal. Almena, 48, would have been sentenced to nine years in county jail and Harris, 28, would have received a six-year sentence.

Defense lawyers accused the district attorney’s office of flipflopping and acting at the behest of victims’ families, rather than within the bounds of legal reason. Prosecutors David Lim and Autrey James acknowledged in the letter that their view and analysis of the case were deeply affected by statements from friends and relatives of victims during a two-day sentencing hearing last week.

“Victims’ families traditionally want far more than what the law allows,” said Tony Serra, an attorney representing Almena. “Most of them want blood, no matter what my guy did or said. You can’t cue off them for sentencing, but that’s now what the district attorney’s office is doing, which in my mind almost always results in a miscarriage of justice.”

A fire investigation concluded that the cause of the blaze could not be determined. It began in the northwest corner of the ground floor, investigators said.

Serra said he will file motions contesting Cramer’s authority to toss the plea agreement — given that it was a different judge who had initially accepted the deal — and to move the case to another county. He said he will argue that the jury pool in Alameda County is too tainted by media coverage of the case.

Curtis Briggs, an attorney for Harris, said he is “refreshed and excited” for a trial and the opportunity to attain an acquittal for his client. He called on District Attorney Nancy O’Malley to personally try the case and explain why her office did not file charges against property owner Chor Ng or any government official who failed to respond to the dangerous conditions inside warehouse.

Briggs, whose fees are being paid by the county, said a trial will be costly for the public.

“The victims’ families suffered a horrible tragedy, but that doesn’t mean they get a blank check to try a case that’s weak,” he said. “This case was settled out for a minimal amount of time, but because (prosecutors) can’t handle the pressure and pushback from families, they are going to put a couple million dollars of taxpayers’ money possibly down the tubes if we acquit Max Harris.”

Briggs accused judges in the case of similarly being “terrified” of victims’ families and the political pressure that would result from approving a deal for Harris.

The next scheduling hearing in the case is Sept. 7.