© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

Oakland Jury Acquits 1 'Ghost Ship' Fire Defendant, Jury Hung On 2nd Defendant

Thirty-six people died when a deadly fire broke out in an Oakland, Calif., warehouse in December 2016.
City of Oakland
/
AP
Thirty-six people died when a deadly fire broke out in an Oakland, Calif., warehouse in December 2016.

A jury in Oakland., Calif., has acquitted one of two men of involuntary manslaughter for his part in organizing a party at a warehouse known as the "Ghost Ship" that turned into a deadly inferno, claiming the lives of 36 people, in December 2016.

Max Harris (left) and Derick Almena at Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, Calif. A jury Thursday acquitted Harris and was unable to reach a verdict on Almena. Both men were charged with manslaughter following the deaths of 36 people in the "Ghost Ship" warehouse fire.
Alameda County Sheriff / AP
/
AP
Max Harris (left) and Derick Almena at Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, Calif. A jury Thursday acquitted Harris and was unable to reach a verdict on Almena. Both men were charged with manslaughter following the deaths of 36 people in the "Ghost Ship" warehouse fire.

Max Harris, 29, was found not guilty after a three-month trial. The jury was unable to reach a verdict for the other defendant, Derick Almena, 49, who was the reputed leader of the warehouse and makeshift artists' collective.

Both men had faced up to 39 years in prison if they had been found guilty of felony involuntary manslaughter.

The verdicts are a setback for prosecutors, who had run into roadblocks on their way to trying to prove that Almena and Harris bore responsibility for the blaze in the East Oakland neighborhood that shook the city.

Last year, Almena and Harris pleaded no contest to charges of manslaughter. A judge was prepared to sentence them to nine and six years in prison, respectively, but he abided by objections raised by families of the fire's victims, who argued in dramatic courtroom presentations that the sentences were too lenient.

More recently, jury deliberations were delayed after Judge Trina Thompson dismissed three jurors for misconduct and ordered the panel to start deliberations anew with three alternate members.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Richard Gonzales is NPR's National Desk Correspondent based in San Francisco. Along with covering the daily news of region, Gonzales' reporting has included medical marijuana, gay marriage, drive-by shootings, Jerry Brown, Willie Brown, the U.S. Ninth Circuit, the California State Supreme Court and any other legal, political, or social development occurring in Northern California relevant to the rest of the country.
Related Content