Huang brothers found guilty of manslaughter in fatal Quincy apartment fire

By Brian Ballou, Globe Staff

DEDHAM -- Two Quincy brothers were found guilty today of manslaughter and other charges for keeping an illegal basement apartment where an immigrant father and his two young sons were trapped and perished in a 2009 fire.

“This sends a powerful message to all landlords,” said Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey. “They can make some mistakes, but when the mistakes rise to this level, there is a penalty to pay.”

After an arduous third day of deliberating, the 11-woman and one-man jury returned their verdicts against Andy Huang and Jason Huang in Norfolk County Superior Court.

Wearing black suits and white shirts, the brothers were taken into custody after the verdicts, touching off wails from their family members sitting in the courtroom. Those relatives declined comment.

This case marks the first time a prosecution used Massachusetts’ enhanced fire ordinances, enacted in the Bay State after Rhode Island’s 2003 Station nightclub fire, which killed 100 people, according to State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan. The new laws, passed in 2004, include penalties for “wanton and reckless disregard” for the welfare of tenants, Coan said in a phone interview today. The law was utilized in this case, Coan said, because the basement apartment had only one exit, rather than the two required, and no smoke detectors.

Killed in the early morning fire on March 25, 2009 in the building at 100 Robertson St. in Quincy were Iraqi immigrant Oudah Moshah Frawi, 39, and his sons, Ali, 1, and Hassan, 2 months old.

Frawi’s wife, Terri Knight, was seriously burned and lay in a coma for weeks. She moved out of state but returned to Massachusetts to testify during the trial. She was not present for today’s presentation of the verdict, however.

Thirteen people in five families who were living in the 2 1/2-story building were able to escape the blaze, started by a faulty lamp that ignited a couch in the basement at about 3:15 a.m., fire officials said. The basement had several windows, but they were so small that a young child would have been unable to fit through their opening, officials said.

Jinny Xue Ma, a co-owner of the apartment and the wife of Jason Huang, pleaded guilty in October to manslaughter, perjury, and building code violations and is serving a 2 1/2-year sentence.

The Huangs were charged with three counts of manslaughter, each of which carry up to 20 years in prison, and four counts of fire code violations, each carrying five years. They each faced a perjury charge too; Andy Huang was found guilty on that charge and faces up to five years on that conviction but Jason Huang was acquitted.

Anthony Annino, the attorney for Jason Huang, and Kevin Reddington, the attorney for Andy Huang, both declined comment after the verdict.

The brothers will be sentenced Thursday in Norfolk County Court.

Earlier today, the jury returned to the courtroom twice indicating they were deadlocked. The first time, they told Judge Kenneth Fishman that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict in one of three charges, but he instructed them to continue deliberating.

Contained in their initial note indicating a deadlock was a question seeking clarification of the phrase “intentional omission or failure to act.” The jury wanted to know if the word “intentional” applies to both “omission” and “failure.” Fishman replied “yes.”

That legal terminology is part of the manslaughter charge, a hint that the jury may have reached verdicts on the fire code violations and perjury charges but not on the manslaughter charge.

Fishman interpreted the question posed by the jurors as an indication they were not finished deliberating, despite their contention that they were deadlocked. He instructed them to carry on.

Almost three hours later, the jury again told the judge they were deadlocked, this time saying “there are 11 jurors who agree on a verdict and one who won’t budge, what is our next step.”

Fishman then gave the jurors what is known informally as a “dynamite” or “shotgun” charge, instructing them to deliberate deeper but refrain from acquiescing to opposing views.

At 4 p.m., the jury returned, appearing weary and stone-faced, and gave their verdicts.

Brian Ballou can be reached at bballou@globe.com.