Defendant admits lying about life at warehouse
Derick Almena admitted Tuesday in his trial on involuntary manslaughter that he lied on four separate occasions about whether he or others lived in the Ghost Ship warehouse.
The revelation came under questioning by Almena’s defense attorney, Tony Serra, in what was likely a preemptive strike against prosecutors who attacked Almena’s credibility during crossexamination — as they did with Almena’s codefendant, Max Harris.
Almena told Serra that one of the landlords, Kai Ng, had suggested he deny that the space was used as living quarters. Almena said he was acting on “bad advice,” and that he “ultimately wanted to protect what was happening there.”
When prosecutors began their crossexamination later Tuesday, they zeroed in on Almena’s credibility.
Almena’s second day on the stand in an Oakland courtroom began with him telling jurors that at least 50 public servants had toured the Ghost Ship warehouse in the years leading up to the fire that trapped and killed 36 people on Dec. 2, 2016.
Under questioning by Serra, Almena testified that not one of the police, fire or childservices officials or teachers redtagged the facility for safety hazards or threatened its tenants with eviction on 33 separate visits to the warehouse.
“We felt good about what we were doing,” Almena said. “We were even acknowledged in a positive way.”
A day after saying he accepted responsibility for the tragedy, Almena and his defense team attempted to establish that others were also to blame for the warehouse’s conditions.
Almena, 49, who leased the warehouse from the property owner and allowed it to be used for an electronic music party the night of the fire, and Harris, 29, each face 36 charges of involuntary manslaughter, one for each life lost in the fire.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors have said that Almena, leader of the warehouse artists’ collective, and Harris, his righthand man, maintained a firetrap, illegally rented the space to more than 20 people and allowed dozens inside the night of the inferno. The result of their actions, prosecutors said, left the victims with “no notice, no time and no exits.”
Defense attorneys say government officials trained to spot safety hazards visited the artists’ collective and never took action against it.
This was the theme of Tuesday’s testimony, as Serra asked his client about specific instances in which he interacted with police, firefighters, paramedics, teachers and childservices workers.
Prior to the trial date, Serra said he
asked Almena to make a list of these instances and the people involved. Almena pulled the list out of his breast pocket before testifying.
In September 2014, fire officials responded to an arson outside the warehouse and toured the inside to make sure there was no damage, Almena said. The following day, several firefighters came back for a pig roast, he said.
Almena’s testimony contradicted the testimony of at least one fire official and one officer. Fire inspector Maria Sabatini testified that she responded to the 2014 arson but never went inside.
Almena said he recalled Sabatini making the sign of the cross when she saw a picture of Christ inside the warehouse, and that she and other officials met his children upstairs.
“Of course they’re denying it,” Almena said.
He recalled interactions with police after a July 10, 2014, shooting across the street from the warehouse, eight occasions in which childservices officials inspected the premises and a potluck party that 27 teachers attended.
On the night of the shooting, Almena said he and his wife drove the victim to the hospital, where she later died. Almena told jurors that Oakland Police Officer Bryant Ocampo offered the couple a ride home, and told them they should leave their car at the hospital to protect themselves against retaliation.
This account is at odds with what Ocampo testified to on Monday. The officer told the courtroom he didn’t remember telling Almena anything about the crime, and that he made no special efforts to protect them.
Defense attorneys wrapped up their examinations Tuesday afternoon, showcasing one last time a blownup photo of Almena with his wife, Micah Allison, and their three children. Almena lightly touched the image of each family member before defense turned the last hour over to crossexaminations.
Prosecutor Autrey James spent most of that time questioning the defendant over previous testimony and attempting to catch him in lies.
James showcased a restraining order Almena made against a former tenant, in which Almena claimed to live somewhere other than the Ghost Ship warehouse. Almena claimed the tenant was preventing him from obtaining grants.
“You signed, under penalty of perjury, that all of the (statements) above are true and correct,” James said. “But we’ve established that not everything was true and correct, right?”
“I’m not sure about that,” Almena said.
Crossexamination will continue Wednesday.
After court Tuesday afternoon, some of the victims’ family members said they were offended every time the defense displayed the photo of Almena and his family.
“It’s obscene to us,” said Colleen Dolan, the mother of victim Chelsea Faith Dolan. “Because our loved ones aren’t allowed into the courtroom. And this is all about the 36 … people who were trapped and abandoned upstairs.”
The victims’ families are not allowed to wear buttons in honor of their loved ones or show pictures of them to each other inside the courtroom, Dolan said.
Almena’s testimony followed that of his codefendant, who took the stand last month.
Harris, who is described by prosecutors as the secondincommand, testified that his leadership role was being exaggerated by prosecutors.
Harris testified that on the night of the inferno he stamped smiley faces on the hands of 80 to 90 people who attended the electronic dance party at the Ghost Ship in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood. He said he had volunteered to work the door while the concert’s promoter, who organized the event, collected money at the door.
During the crossexamination, Harris admitted he told “untruths” before and after the fire regarding his role at the warehouse.
Before the fire, Ghost Ship operated as an unsanctioned livework artists collective, housing up to 25 people. The 36 victims — 35 party attendees and one tenant — died of smoke inhalation.
Officials were unable to determine the cause of the fire.