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March 21, 2006

Derderian lawyers to subpoena town records

PROVIDENCE -- Attorneys for the owners of The Station nightclub plan to subpoena records from the town of West Warwick regarding three town employees who played key roles in fire prevention and inspection in February of 2003, when a fire at the club killed 100 people.

Lawyers for the Jeffrey and Michael Derderian and state prosecutors met with Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. behind closed doors for about an hour this afternoon before discussing the subpoenas in open court.

The defense will seek copies of "any and all documents reflecting any training or education received or attended relative to the employment of" former Fire Inspector Denis Larocque, Building Inspector Steven Murray, and firefighter John Peiczarek.

The prosecution team did not object to the subpoena. Darigan agreed to the order, giving West Warwick officials and the state Fire Marshal's office 10 days to comply with the request.

Michael Derderian's attorney, Kathleen Haggerty, would not say why she wanted those specific documents.

The Derderian brothers are each charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter, two for each of the people who died.

Though they were charged under two separate legal theories for each death, they can only be sentenced once because of the constitutional prohibition against being punished twice for the same crime, known as double jeopardy.

The brothers will be tried separately.

Darigan last week scheduled the first, for Michael Derderian, to start July 31 of this year.

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 4:55 PM | Permalink

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