3 Jurors Tossed From Ghost Ship Trial

OAKLAND, CA — Jury deliberations in the trial of Ghost Ship warehouse master tenant Derick Almena and creative director Max Harris started all over again late Monday afternoon after the judge in their case dismissed three jurors for undisclosed reasons.

A nine-woman, three-man panel had been deliberating the fate of Almena, 49, and Harris, 29, for parts of 10 days since the case was submitted to them on July 31, but Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson told a reconstituted panel of seven woman and five men that they must begin deliberations from scratch.

Almena and Harris are each charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter for a fire at a music party at the 10,000-square-foot warehouse in the 1300 block of 31st Avenue in Oakland's Fruitvale district, which served as an artists' collective, the night of Dec. 2, 2016.

An air of drama and tension hovered over the high-profile trial on Monday with word early in the day that jurors submitted a note to Thompson, which was followed by a series of closed hearings in which Thompson and the attorneys in the case questioned jurors individually.

Jurors looked unhappy when Thompson summoned them into her courtroom at an open hearing at 3 p.m. that was packed with reporters and many of the fire victims' family members.

Thompson said she had excused three female jurors and told three alternates, two men and one woman, to take their seats.

Thompson didn't say why the three jurors were dismissed, but her instructions to the remaining jurors suggested that it may have been because of improper use of the Internet and their cellphones, or exposure to media coverage of the case.

Thompson told jurors, "Do not interact with a news agency or anyone who tries to provide information."

The trial started on April 30 with 12 jurors and six alternates, but there's now only one alternate left, as Thompson previously dismissed one juror on May 1, the second day of the trial, for undisclosed reasons and dismissed another juror on May 9 for what she described as "veracity issues."

At the end of the day on Monday Thompson said there's "a high probability" that the lone remaining alternate will have to be pressed into service because one of the jurors in the case has scheduling issues now that it appears that deliberations will continue for a lengthy period.

Thompson also said jurors submitted six questions, mostly about scheduling issues, after she ordered them to re-start their deliberations.

Thompson and the attorneys in the case will discuss how to respond to those questions at a closed hearing at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and said she will give her reply to jurors at a hearing in open court later in the morning.

Thompson ordered attorneys not to talk to the news media about her reasons for dismissing the three jurors, saying she doesn't want anything to be said that might compromise the case or cause a mistrial.

She said, "I'm more concerned about having a fair trial than having a sound bite that could create an error (legally)."

Almena's lawyer Tony Serra appeared to be upset about Thompson's gag order, saying in court that he is "concerned about issues that have occurred today."

Prosecutors allege that Almena and Harris are criminally responsible for the fire because the people at the music party didn't have the time or opportunity to escape the blaze since the warehouse lacked important safeguards such as fire sprinklers, smoke alarms and lighted exit
signs.

Prosecutors also allege that Almena and Harris violated the terms of the building's lease, which only called for it to be used as a warehouse for an artists' collective, by turning it into a living space for up to 25 people and hosting underground music parties there.

But defense attorneys allege that the fire was an act of arson that Almena and Harris couldn't have prevented and say firefighters, police officers and other authorities who visited the building before the deadly fire never told the two men that they thought it was unsafe or that they
needed to make changes to bring it up to code.

— Bay City News

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