« Station Fire: "I wanted them to say they were guilty" | Today | Station Fire: Darigan explaining the law, his decision »

September 29, 2006

Station Fire: Michael Derderian composed during his statement

“I just want to say how deeply sorry I am for the role I played in that tragedy,” a composed Michael Derderian told the court just moments ago.

With so many families hurting, Derderian said he is sorry “for not asking more questions” about the deadly foam the brothers hung on the walls of their business, The Station nightclub.

Derderian said he sometimes looks back and wishes they never hung the foam on the walls or bought the business.

If he knew then what he knows now, “we would have done things differently,” he said.

Minutes before he addressed the court, Michael had sat in the courtroom with his head buried in his arms on the table in front of him, listening to his brother, Jeffrey Derderian, say he sometimes wishes he didn’t make it out of the fire.

As he addressed the court, Michael maintained his composure throughout.

"There is so much pain and heartache that happened on our doorstep," he said. "We know that everyone there just wanted to have fun. ... Like my brother said, we never intended for this to happen."

Michael Derderian reiterated that he was not in the nightclub the night of the fire.

"I cannot even begin to imagine the horror," he said.

Posted by Kate Bramson  at 3:40 PM | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)