for all that shit??
unbelievable really. Rhode Island nightclub owners plead no contest in 2003 fire deaths
Updated 9/29/2006 11:08 AM ET
WARWICK, R.I. (AP) â?? A hearing to sentence the two brothers who owned a nightclub where a fire started by a band's pyrotechnics, killing 100 concertgoers, on Friday took on a memorial feel.
It began with the lights being dimmed and a slideshow flashing pictures of each of the people killed as a woman read their names out loud. There were tearful testimonials from relatives of those who died.
And then, there was the anger directed at the court, the system and the brothers who owned The Station nightclub, a West Warwick club where highly flammable foam was placed on the walls for soundproofing â?? and ended up fueling a fast moving fire that trapped many of those who died at the doorways, overcome by fumes and smoke.
Many of those who spoke before club owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian were sentenced were angry that a plea deal had been reached rather than a trial, where they could find out more about how and why their loved ones died.
Claire Bruyere, whose daughter Bonnie Hamelin died in the blaze, said her daughter was now in a place where "there is no corruption or negligence."
"She was let down by the system, state and even me. I can't reassure her that someone was held responsible for her death," Bruyere said. She was applauded as she finished her statement.
Emotions continue to run high in the years since the Feb. 20, 2003, fire. The devastation, which included more than 200 people being injured, stunned a state so small that many residents knew someone who was at the club that night.
In exchange for their pleas, Judge Francis Darigan planned to sentence Michael Derderian, 45, to four years in prison and give Jeff Derderian, 39, a suspended sentence with probation and 500 hours of community service. Those sentences have drawn protests from family members, who say they are far too lenient.
"Lady Justice in Rhode Island is blind, but she's also deaf," said Jay McLaughlin, brother-in-law of Sandy and Michael Hoogasian, who died in the fire.
Friday's court hearing began with a recitation of the names of all those killed in the fire. As a court clerk read each victim's name, video screens displayed their photograph, name, age and hometown.
About two dozen victims' relatives planned to speak Friday. Their testimony was expected to last all day before the Derderians were sentenced.
As some spoke, Jeffrey Derderian wiped his eyes.
Annmarie Swidwa, mother of 25-year-old fire victim, Bridget Sanetti, said she was hoping the discontent voiced by family members about the plea agreements could cause the judge to reconsider.
"There's still that tiny bit of hope that the judge will give them a longer sentence," Swidwa said before entering the courthouse. "And I don't want him to be able to say not enough people complained, not enough people spoke out."
The Derderians will also have an opportunity to address the judge.
The fire at the club in West Warwick â?? about 13 miles south of Providence â?? broke out during a concert by the 1980s band Great White, when pyrotechnics used as a stage prop ignited flammable foam that the Derderian brothers used as soundproofing around the stage.
The one-story wooden building was swiftly consumed by flames and toxic fumes, creating a panicked logjam of concertgoers at the front exit.
The fire, the fourth-deadliest nightclub blaze in U.S. history, prompted an overhaul of Rhode Island's fire codes, a tide of lawsuits and criminal charges against the Derderians and former Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele, who was sentenced in May to four years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter for igniting the stage explosives.
Once the Derderians enter their pleas and are sentenced, criminal charges against all three defendants will have been resolved â?? without any of the men going to trial.
The Derderians are set to plead no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter under a legal theory that accuses them of committing a misdemeanor offense â?? installing flammable soundproofing foam in violation of the state fire code â?? that led to the deaths.
Michael Derderian will receive the harsher sentence because he purchased the foam, said their attorney, Kathleen Hagerty, who has said the brothers were not warned the material was dangerous or violated the fire code.
The brothers' decision to change their pleas from not guilty to no contest was disclosed in a letter from Attorney General Patrick Lynch last week as jury selection was underway in Michael Derderian's trial.
Lynch told victims' families he never agreed to a plea deal and strongly opposed the sentences that the judge planned to impose. Hagerty said prosecutors offered the terms during negotiations.
Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan said he decided to accept the Derderians' no-contest pleas partly because he wanted to spare the public from an emotional and lengthy trial.
But many victims' relatives were furious at the judge's comments, saying they wanted the brothers to stand trial because they still have many unanswered questions about the fire.
A lawsuit that was filed by nearly 300 people who were injured or lost loved ones and names dozens of defendants is still pending in federal court in Rhode Island.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
