Accused rebuts cop to wrap up testimony
Testimony in the Ghost Ship criminal trial culminated Tuesday with what defense attorneys viewed as a key moment for their clients, after defendant Max Harris offered a final rebuttal to prosecutors’ claims following more than two months of witnesses.
Harris, 29, and codefendant Derick Almena, 49, each face three dozen charges of involuntary manslaughter for each person killed in an Oakland warehouse fire the night of Dec. 2, 2016. Almena had been leasing the Fruitvale neighborhood warehouse as an artists’ collective and unsanctioned living quarters, and Harris has
been described by prosecutors as Ghost Ship’s secondincommand.
Prosecutors on Tuesday called Oakland police Officer Hector Chavez as their last witness, and he told the courtroom that Harris had attempted to close the door on him as Chavez was shutting down an illegal rave at the warehouse in March 2015. Though that party came nearly two years before the inferno that killed 36 people during an electronic music concert, prosecutors cited the earlier rave as an example of how defendants used the space for debauchery.
But on his second visit to the witness stand Tuesday, Harris denied that he was the one pushing Chavez out the door, as seen on body camera footage. Though someone in the video appears to say the name “Max,” the person most visible did not match Harris’ description.
“It’s clearly not me,” Harris told the jury Tuesday, noting that he had dreadlocks down to his waist at the time.
Harris said he was in the building that evening, but he never came to the door.
Following the final presentation of evidence and witnesses, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson released the jurors until July 29, when they will begin hearing closing arguments.
In the interim, Thompson and the attorneys will meet to discuss jury instructions and any further motions.
Curtis Briggs, Harris’ lead attorney, said after court Tuesday that the final portion of testimony was symbolic of the entire trial, and the district attorney’s office should have never prosecuted Harris in the first place.
“His own body camera just completely contradicted 100% everything he testified to in front of the jury,” Briggs said, referencing Chavez’s statements. “This trial has been filled with numerous instances and occasions where the government’s witnesses had it wrong.”
A district attorney’s spokeswoman declined comment until after the end of the trial.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors Casey Bates and Autrey James attempted to demonstrate criminal negligence on the part of the defendants, the standard used to determine involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors argued that the space was a death trap crammed with motor homes, antiques and artwork, and rooms were partitioned with flammable materials like tapestries, pianos and old windows. A makeshift staircase fashioned out of old wood and pallets made up the main entrance to the second floor, where partygoers formed a bottleneck as they attempted to flee the flames.
Additionally, few safety features were installed. Witnesses in the trial testified that there were no sprinklers, no smoke or fire alarms, and no exit signs. The fire extinguishers on the scene proved futile. Survivors who testified described mere seconds between first noticing smoke and chaos. Many narrowly survived, choking while fleeing through black smoke and darkness after the lights went out.
The defense, meanwhile, has argued the blame for the fire should be shared. Harris and Almena both testified that they were remorseful about the loss of lives, while also directing blame toward government officials who viewed the space and never reported it as a safety hazard.
Briggs and Tony Serra, Almena’s lead attorney, also introduced witnesses who suggested the blaze was ignited by arsonists. One woman told jurors she heard a group of men celebrating the fire as it tore through the building.
Federal investigators never determined a cause of the blaze, though prosecutors throughout their questioning suggested it was the result of an electrical malfunction.