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Topic: Owners to plead no contest in club fire deaths (NSC) Return to archive
21st September 2006 05:21 AM
Ten Thousand Motels Owners to plead no contest in club fire deaths
POSTED: 7:14 p.m. EDT, September 20, 2006

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- The owners of a nightclub where a 2003 fire killed 100 people will plead no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges, and only one will have to serve prison time, their lawyer said Wednesday. Victims' relatives were outraged.

Kathleen Hagerty said brothers Jeffrey and Michael Derderian will enter the pleas more than 3-1/2 years after pyrotechnics ignited foam soundproofing as a band started playing at The Station nightclub.

She confirmed that Michael Derderian will serve 4 years in a minimum security prison, with eligibility for a work release program, and that Jeffrey Derderian will receive a suspended 10-year sentence.

Some relatives of those killed were furious to hear about the punishments, which they considered light.

"I can't believe the attorney general is just going to stand by and say OK to this," said Diane Mattera, whose 29-year-old daughter, Tammy Mattera-Housa, died in the fire.

Hagerty confirmed the pleas after WJAR-TV of Providence reported on a letter Attorney General Patrick Lynch wrote to families of those killed to announce the plea deal.

Robert Bruyere, whose stepdaughter, Bonnie Hamelin, died in the fire, said he and his wife, Claire, learned about the plea on the news and had not yet heard from the attorney general.

Lynch "better hope I don't see him in person, because I'll be in jail," he said.

Lynch's spokesman Mike Healey did not immediately return phone messages left seeking comment. WJAR reported that Lynch was calling family members Wednesday to inform them of the pleas.

The plea comes as jury selection was underway for Michael Derderian's criminal trial.

The fire on February 20, 2003, at the West Warwick nightclub began when pyrotechnics used by the heavy metal band Great White ignited flammable soundproofing foam placed around the stage. A guitarist for the band was among those killed, and more than 200 people were injured.

In May, former Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele was sentenced to four years in prison for igniting the pyrotechnics without the required permit. He pleaded guilty in February to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The Derderians have each pleaded not guilty to 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter -- two counts for each person killed under separate legal theories. A count of involuntary manslaughter in Rhode Island carries up to 30 years in prison.

One theory accuses them of committing a misdemeanor -- installing flammable foam in violation of the state fire code -- that led to the victims' deaths; the other accuses them of operating their club with criminal negligence by maintaining unsafe conditions.
21st September 2006 07:28 AM
Monkeytonk-man Great White Rule - Somebody tell them to get there arse's over to the UK. They haven't been over here for a good few years and I'm ready to rock.
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