Ghost Ship Trial: Derick Almena Testimony

OAKLAND, CA — Ghost Ship warehouse master tenant Derick Almena on Tuesday accused numerous prosecution witnesses of lying in their testimony about a series of events that led up to a fire during a music party at the building in 2016 in which 36 people were killed.

In his second day on the witness stand in his trial on 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the blaze during a music party at the warehouse in the 1300 block of 31st Avenue the night of Dec. 2, 2016, Almena, 49, alleged that the witnesses lied to protect themselves or the agencies they work for.

Almena alleged that the words of Nicholas Bouchard, who co-signed the lease for the 10,000-square-foot-building with him on Nov. 10, 2013, were "all lies" when Bouchard testified that Almena laughed him off when he told Almena in a meeting several weeks later that the building should be brought up to code.

Almena said the meeting "didn't happen" the way that Bouchard described it.

Almena also alleged that Oakland police Officer Bryant Ocampo lied on Monday when he testified that he didn't ask that Almena be given special police protection after Almena drove an 18-year-old victim of a shooting at a Wendy's restaurant near the warehouse on July 10, 2014, to Highland Hospital, where she later died.

Almena said Tuesday that he feared that the suspects in the shooting, which was believed to be gang-related, might retaliate against him and his family because they were witnesses and said Ocampo came by the warehouse "all the time" after the shooting to make sure they were safe.

When asked by his lawyer Tony Serra why Ocampo would lie, Serra said, "He's protecting something."

Almena also accused former Oakland Acting Assistant Fire Marshal Maria Sabatini and Fire Capt. George Freelen of lying when they testified that they didn't go inside the warehouse when they investigated an arson fire on a couch on the sidewalk outside the building on Sept. 26, 2014.

Almena said, "Of course they're denying" that they went inside the warehouse.

The issue of whether firefighters, police officers and other government officials toured the building before the fire is important because defense lawyers for Almena and Ghost Ship creative director Max Harris, 29, who faces the same charges, say authorities who visited the building never told the people who lived there that they thought it was unsafe or told them to make changes to bring it up to code.

But Alameda County prosecutors allege they Almena and Harris are criminally responsible for the blaze because the partygoers didn't have the time or opportunity to escape the blaze since the warehouse didn't have important safeguards, such as fire sprinklers, smoke alarms and lighted exit signs.

Prosecutors also allege that Almena and Harris violated the terms of the warehouse'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.

Almena estimated Tuesday that 100 government officials went inside the warehouse between 2014 and the night of the fire and none of them told him that he had to make the building safer, get permits for various upgrades or issued eviction notices.

On Monday, Almena blamed the building's landlords for safety problems at the artists' collective where 36 people died in a 2016 fire.

Almena said he believes the Ng family, which owns the building, misled him about the conditions there.

Almena said that in the fall of 2013 "I signed a lease for something that shouldn't be rented for an artists' collective."

Almena said, "I realized there was nothing there" because there wasn't any water or electricity.

He said that when he confronted the Ng family about upgrading the 10,000-square-foot warehouse, they told him that he had to accept the building in the condition it already was in.

However, Almena also said he feels responsible for the 36 deaths at the building.

"I feel responsible for having this idea (an artists' warehouse) spiritually, morally," Almena said.

"I built something that attracted beautiful people to the space."

When his lawyer Tony Serra asked him if he leased the warehouse with the idea of living there, Almena said, "No," but also said the subject is "a gray area."

Almena said he thought the warehouse was safe and never would have lived there with his wife and their three children if he'd thought it was dangerous.

"I believed it was safe and I was told it was safe," he said.

"I was given permission to raise my children there," Almena added without saying who gave him permission.

Almena gave long and meandering answers to some of Serra'a questions, prompting prosecutor Autrey James to object that his answers weren't responsive and should be stricken from the record. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson sustained most of James' objections.

— Bay City News

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