California Warehouse Fire Trial Limps on After Hung Jury

Makeshift memorials erected to the victims of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire, photographed Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019 in Oakland, Calif. Jurors found defendant Max Harris not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and were unable to reach a verdict in the case against co-defendant Derick Almena. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron) OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — An emotionally taxing criminal case over the deaths of 36 people trapped inside a San Francisco Bay Area warehouse nearly three years ago will continue after a jury acquitted one defendant and deadlocked on the other. Jurors deliberated over a two-week period before they acquitted Max Harris on Thursday of involuntary manslaughter but said they could not agree on whether to convict or acquit Derick Almena, prolonging a case already beset by delays. Sobs and gasps erupted from family and friends of the victims as the judge declared a mistrial. The men were accused of filling a warehouse building in Oakland with so much clutter that it trapped people at an electronic music party in December 2016. Almena, 49, and Harris, 29, had pleaded no contest to manslaughter and were set to be sentenced last year to nine and six years in prison, respectively. But a judge threw out their pleas after many of the victims' families objected. "I'm in shock," said David Gregory, whose 20-year-old daughter Michela perished in the fast-moving fire. "We were hoping for justice, but we didn't get justice today." Michela Gregory and her 22-year-ol...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: News AP News Tag Source Type: news