Defendant in warehouse inferno freed from custody
DUBLIN >> Derick Almena, accused of 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of three dozen people in the Ghost Ship fire in 2016, was released from custody Monday afternoon.
Almena, 50, was granted his release by Alameda County Superior
Court Judge Trina Thompson after a teleconference hearing Monday. Around 3:45 p.m., he was no longer in custody, according to jail records.
Almena had posted a $150,000 bail bond last month, but the address where he would live while he awaits trial needed to be approved
by the court before he was released. That address was verified Monday.
Almena was released to the city of Upper Lake, in Lake County, where his wife and children live. He is to remain on an electronic ankle monitor and to shelter in place during his release.
He also is to have no contact with any of the victims’ family members or witnesses. He cannot leave the home for any reason unless given written approval by the court; any violation can send him back into custody.
Almena is facing a retrial for his role in the Dec. 2, 2016, blaze, which killed 36 people, including one tenant who lived at the Fruitvale district warehouse with about 20 others.
Almena was the master tenant who signed the lease in 2013 with the understanding that the building would only be used as an art collective.
But he rented out the living space in the warehouse to others, the prosecution alleged, and allowed it to be filled to the brim with art, furniture, pianos and other items.
The warehouse also was used for dance parties, much like the one on Dec. 2, 2016, that was taking place when the fire broke out.
The blaze spread so quickly that most of those on the second floor, where the gathering was being held, were trapped and unable to escape the flames and smoke.
David Gregory, whose daughter Michela Angelina Gregory was one of the 36 who died in the fire, said his family is serving a life sentence waiting for justice to be served since the night of the fire.
“It’s been super stressful for me and my family, and we just want justice and some kind of closure, if that is even possible,” he told this news organization Friday.
Colleen Dolan, the mother of Chelsea Faith Dolan, who also died in the fire, was adamant in October that Almena should remain in custody. She told the media after a judge denied lowering Almena’s bail at that time that he would be a flight risk if he were released.
“I fully believe he would flee with his family,” she said. “I would personally like to see him stay and be held accountable.”
Last month, Judge Thompson agreed to reduce Almena’s bail amount from $750,000 to $150,000 after his attorneys argued that the 50-year-old was vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 inside the Dublin jail.
Almena and former Ghost Ship tenant Max Harris were arrested in June 2017, and each was charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
In September, a jury acquitted Harris of all 36 counts but deadlocked 10-2 in favor of guilt for Almena. After the verdict, Harris was released from Santa Rita Jail and is now living in Oregon.
Last month, one of Almena’s attorneys, Vincent Barrientos, told this news organization that a jail doctor who examined Almena determined that his health had deteriorated during his time in Santa Rita.
The attorney said that “should a COVID outbreak occur in there, Almena would be in serious trouble.”
Since then, at least 36 inmates at Santa Rita have been infected with the virus. The jail has released about 900 others since the shelter-in-place orders went into effect March 17, and the population is down to 1,773 from the daily average of 2,600.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and Almena’s defense attorneys are not able to comment on the case because of a gag order previously issued by Thompson.
The trial is expected to begin July 6. The next hearing will be held May 22.