Defense attorney blames arsonists

Suspicious behavior seen at Ghost Ship, jurors told

In the moments before the Ghost Ship warehouse burst into flames, a witness heard strange sounds coming from the building, and then saw seven people leave from a side door, defense attorney Tony Serra told jurors Wednesday.

Serra’s opening statements on the second day of the jury trial mirrored co-counsel Curtis Briggs’ contention from Tuesday: The Dec. 2, 2016, blaze that killed 36 people was intentionally set.

Serra, who represents defendant Derick Almena, expanded on the theory Wednesday, describing what a warehouse neighbor said were sounds of popping and glass breaking — like Molotov cocktails.

“They lit them, and threw them and left,” Serra said.

The defense team seized on the fact that

investigators never determined an official cause of the fire.

If arson caused the fire, defense attorneys said, then Almena, 49, and co-defendant Max Harris, 29, shouldn’t be held criminally responsible. Both Almena and Harris, who is represented by Briggs, are charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutor Casey Bates offered a far different story in his opening statements Tuesday. Almena and Harris recklessly built a firetrap, illegally allowed people to live in it, lied to authorities about it and invited outsiders to shows there — even though the warehouse was not a permitted venue, let alone residence.

Of the 36 people who died, 35 were partygoers, Bates said. The lone resident who died had a broken ankle and was unable to make it out. Bates said people died because they had “no notice, no time and no exits.”

Briggs, in his opening statement, downplayed Harris’ rank at Ghost Ship, describing him as a servant and likening him to Cinderella.

Briggs and Serra suggested that the fire could have been started by someone who wanted to harm Almena. They each cited a prolonged conflict between Almena and a man who owned an auto body shop next door to the warehouse.

Contrary to prosecutors’ accusations, Serra said, Almena made several safety updates to the warehouse, including the addition of fire extinguishers, taking screens off windows and prohibiting candles, incense or smoking in the space.

“Code violations have nothing to do with an arson fire,” Serra said. “This was a superseding cause. … You can’t blame my client for it.”

On Tuesday, Briggs said a woman witnessed “seven to 10 Latino men” exiting Ghost Ship right after the fire ignited. One of the men allegedly told the others, “The way we put that wood there, they’re never getting out,” Briggs said.

Both Almena and Harris are expected to testify, according to their attorneys. The two men stood and faced the jurors as they filed into the courtroom Wednesday morning.

Almena was wearing a dark green jacket and appeared solemn, while Harris wore a charcoal suit and orange shirt, and smiled as the jury walked by.

Though the defense attorneys have mostly joined strategies throughout pretrial proceedings, the opening statements Tuesday and Wednesday provided a few instances when the co-defendants subtly pointed blame at each other.

Serra pointed out that Almena wasn’t at Ghost Ship the evening it burned. Almena lived in the warehouse with his wife and three young children, but the five stayed at a hotel room the night of the fire to escape the loud music, Serra said.

Briggs noted that Harris wasn’t living at Ghost Ship when Almena started allowing people to live there illegally.

Serra described his client as “100 percent artist” before the fire, a man whose vision in life was to create a beautiful environment where artists could create a community. Almena welcomed people off the street, and the collective’s only edict was to “be awesome, make art,” Serra said.

Serra also stressed that public safety officials, including police, fire officials and child protective service employees, had visited the warehouse multiple times before the blaze, and no one flagged it for danger.

“There was no edict, pressure that ‘this has to change,’ ” Serra said. “What (Almena) saw was beauty.”

Serra also pushed back on one specific piece of evidence Bates presented Tuesday, when he showed police bodycamera footage of both Almena and Harris telling police that no one lived in the warehouse. The men could be heard telling police that it was a 24-hour artist collective.

Serra said that Almena wasn’t lying to police. He said Almena was changing living quarters at that time.

Witness testimony was delayed until Monday after Judge Trina Thompson was called for jury duty Thursday, attorneys said.