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August 31, 2006

State seeks to block 5 Derderian defense witnesses

PROVIDENCE -- The state attorney general's office filed motions today seeking to block five witnesses -- including a foam expert and the state fire marshal -- from testifying in Michael Derderian's looming trial stemming from The Station fire disaster.

In separate motions for each of the five witnesses, the state has argued that their expected testimony is either irrelevant, or that the defense team violated court rules by waiting too long to notify the prosecution of the witnesses.

The witnesses include state Fire Marshal George Farrell and Assistant Deputy Fire Marshal William Howe, who are expected to testify about the complexities of the fire code and Rhode Island's general practice of notifying a property owner of a fire code violation before filing criminal charges.

Derderian and his brother, Jeffrey Derderian, owners of The Station nightclub, are charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of 100 people during the fire in February 2003. The state claims the brothers are criminally negligent in the deaths for using highly flammable soundproofing foam that violated the state's fire code and because the club was overcrowded.

The state also seeks to block testimony by Robert Schroeder, a fire safety expert expected to testify that he examined various types of soundproofing foam, finding it impossible to determine by sight whether they were flame-resistant.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 1:23 PM | Permalink

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