Sep 21, 2006 11:26 pm US/Eastern
A.G. Disappointed With Nightclub Fire Plea Deals
Judge Francis Darigan Blasts A.G.'s Office For Leak
WARWICK, R.I. (CBS4) ―
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Michael Derderian (L) and Jeffery Derderian (R) have reached a plea deal
CBS
R.I. Attorney General Patrick Lynch is reiterating his opposition to the no contest pleas of Jeffrey and Michael Derderian in the nightclub fire criminal case.
Michael Derderian will be sentenced to serve four years in a minimum security prison, followed by 11 years suspended and three years probation. Jeffrey Derderian will be spared from prison altogether, receiving a suspended 10-year sentence, with three years probation and 500 hours of community service.
Many family members expressed outraged by the deal and considered it too lenient.
"Michael Derderian...is responsible for this place being the hell hole that it was...the fire trap that it was," said David Kane. David lost his son Nicky in the blaze.
Lynch released a statement late Thursday morning:
"Starting last night and continuing through this morning, I have been making calls to inform the families of those who perished in The Station fire, and the survivors, of the decision arrived at by Superior Court Associate Justice Francis J. Darigan Jr. regarding the State's cases against Michael Derderian and Jeffrey Derderian. All of my efforts are focused on reaching, and reaching out to, as many of the victims and survivors as possible during this most difficult time. This is my priority and my obligation."
"My intention was always to prosecute these two criminal cases at trial. I do not agree with this disposition. I have not agreed to this disposition. It disappoints me very much. I will share my views about it, and make myself accessible to the news media, this afternoon."
Kane doesn't believe Lynch's claim. "We know exactly what happened here, the fix was in again."
A pyrotechnics display ignited The Station nightclub in West Warwick in February 2003, killing 100 people and injuring 200. It was the fourth deadliest fire in U.S. history.
Both Derderians were facing 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Instead they will plead no contest to 100 counts for hanging flammable foam that violated the fire code.
While Lynch claims he did not sign off on the plea deal, the Derderians' lawyer, Kathleen Hagerty, says Lynch's office proposed those terms last month and again this month.
She gave The Associated Press a handwritten document that she says was given to her by a prosecutor that lays out nearly identical terms. The note is dated September seventh and she says it was given to her after she asked for the prosecutor to put the terms in writing.
The judge presiding over Michael Derderian's criminal case is also upset. Judge Francis Darigan wants to know how the plea agreement became public before the court had a chance to inform all of the victims' families.
Reading a statement from his bench Thursday afternoon, he said the leak of details about the change of plea was "despicable" and "unquestionably came from within the attorney general's office."
Judge Blasts A.G.'s Office For Nightclub Case LeakIn May, former Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele was sentenced to four years in prison for igniting the pyrotechnics without the required permit. He pleaded guilty in February to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Great White was a Grammy-nominated heavy metal band that made its name in the 1980s.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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