Prosecutor makes case for criminal negligence
Closing arguments begin in warehouse fire trial
Prosecutor Autrey James had a quick answer to his own question Monday when explaining to jurors of the Ghost Ship criminal trial why defendants Derick Almena and Max Harris exhibited criminal negligence.
James asked if the defendants’ conduct was a substantial factor in 36 people’s deaths in an Oakland warehouse fire the night of Dec. 2, 2016. “Absolutely,” he answered.
Therefore, he said, the two defendants should be found guilty of all 36 charges of involuntary
manslaughter.
On the first day of closing arguments in the longrunning Ghost Ship trial, James echoed the prosecution’s opening statements — that the victims had “no time, no notice and no exits” on the night of the inferno, when three dozen people died at an electronic music party at a warehouse in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood. And like cocounsel Casey Bates did in opening statements, James listed each victim by name while displaying their photo.
James then went on to meticulously lay out the legal grounds in which two people who never intended to kill anyone should be held criminally responsible.
The closing arguments come after more than two months of prosecution and defense witness testimony, which began May 6. Both legal teams are scheduled to receive three to four days for closing arguments before the case is decided by jurors.
Throughout testimony, James and Bates called to the stand fire survivors and police and fire officials to show that Almena, the warehouse’s 49yearold master tenant, and Harris, described as his 29yearold secondincommand, altered the warehouse to create deadly fire conditions. Almena declined to install safety features like sprinklers, illuminated fire exits and smoke alarms, and Harris helped coordinate events that packed dozens into a space prosecutors described as a “tinderbox.”
Meanwhile, defense attorneys said the warehouse and artists’ collective was frequently visited by police, fire and other government officials who were more equipped to identify and act on the building’s hazards.
Defense attorneys also introduced witnesses to suggest that the blaze was ignited by arsonists. In opening statements, Almena’s attorney, Tony Serra, said the sounds one witness heard coming from the building were reminiscent of Molotov cocktails.
Monday’s proceedings may have drawn the largest crowd to date in the trial, which has taken place at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland. An overflow room was nearly filled to capacity Monday as victims’ family members audibly wept or dabbed their eyes while James listed their loved ones’ names.
James spent most of the morning explaining to jurors the complex legal standards they must navigate when weighing the defendants’ guilt.
The threshold for criminal negligence is not whether a reasonable person knew their acts could cause a death, but that a reasonable person should have known, James said. A reasonable person running a business in Oakland, James said, would do everything in their power to ensure that their building was safe.
“That’s not what happened with Mr. Almena, and that’s not what happened with Mr. Harris,” he said. “Throughout this case they acted unreasonably.”
James additionally argued that the men violated nine fire codes that qualified as misdemeanors and amounted to criminal negligence.
“You don’t have to decide if their acts were the primary cause,” James said. To find the defendants guilty, Almena and Harris’ actions must only have been “a substantial factor.”
Federal investigators never determined a cause of the blaze, though prosecutors throughout their questioning suggested it was the result of an electrical malfunction.
Later in the afternoon James reminded jurors of the multiple instances in which Almena and Harris were untruthful when they told police and fire officials no one was living in the unsanctioned warehouse. The two were seen on police bodycamera video sticking to the “party line,” James said, repeating the lie that the building was used as a 24hour workspace.
“If you believe they were lying, you don’t have to believe anything they said,” James told the jurors.
The prosecutor additionally recalled a November 2013 meeting, in which Almena and his wife met with a former tenant and his mother to discuss safety measures. Katleen Bouchard, the mother of Ghost Ship cofounder Nico Bouchard, told the court how Almena had laughed at her suggestions to bring the building up to code, calling them too conventional.
“Even creative people understand the difference between right and wrong,” James said Monday. “Mr. Almena is a narcissist. It’s his way and only his way.”
James later took aim at Harris, who during the trial downplayed his leadership role despite calling himself an “executive director” or “creative director” in communications before the fire.
“I don’t care what he calls himself,” James said, noting that Harris collected rent, mediated differences within the collective and helped coordinate events. “It is what he was doing that matters.”
James closed the day asking jurors to find both defendants guilty of all charges. The defense team is scheduled to begin its closing arguments Tuesday morning. Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy