Station nightclub deal stuns R.I.
1 brother avoids jail; other to receive 4 years
Nightclub owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian have agreed to plead no contest for their role in the horrific Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people in February 2003, a last-minute deal that spares one brother from serving any prison time while bringing the heartrending legal drama to a sudden and unexpected end.
Kathleen Hagerty, the brothers' lawyer, confirmed last night that her clients had agreed to the deal, which would give Jeffrey Derderian only 500 hours community service while sentencing his brother Michael to four years behind bars.
The agreement quickly became enmeshed in controversy: Victims' families angrily denounced it and Rhode Island's attorney general, Patrick C. Lynch, insisted in a letter that Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. forced the deal on him against his objections.
The plea agreement, which stunned the victims' families, was outlined in letters mailed yesterday by Lynch and Darigan to relatives of those killed in the fire, Hagerty said.
Under the agreement, Michael Derderian will serve four years in prison followed by three years on probation. Jeffrey Derderian will receive three years probation, and 500 hours of community service.
The Derderians could have faced a maximum prison sentence of 30 years on each count if convicted, said Hagerty.
In a letter to victims yesterday, Lynch said he opposed the deal: ``Most importantly, I want each of you to understand that as attorney general, I have not agreed to this disposition, and I will continue to strongly voice my objection," he wrote in the letter, which was posted on the Providence Journal's website.
He had no power to stop the judge, he wrote. ``Our system of justice does not allow the State to demand a trial; that right belongs exclusively to the criminal defendant."
But Hagerty said that Lynch had offered virtually an identical deal on Aug. 10 and that her clients initially rejected it, changing their minds only after deciding to spare the community the trauma of reliving that horrific night in a lengthy trial.
On Sept. 7, she said, one of the prosecutors, William Ferland, renewed the deal in a meeting with her at the Kent County Courthouse in Warwick, as jury selection in Michael Derderian's trial was underway.
Hagerty said she asked Ferland to write down the deal so she could present it to her clients, and he did. She gave a copy of the handwritten agreement to the Globe last night.
``If [Lynch] has got a problem with his prosecutors, that's for you to go talk to him about," Hagerty said. ``I am not going to comment on what the attorney general is trying to accomplish in that letter."
Mike Healey, spokesman for Lynch, said late last night that the attorney general ``never agreed to these terms," but he would not comment on the conditions of the agreement proposed in August.
``She is the same person who has been saying her clients are innocent and have no culpability ."
Victims' families and survivors of the West Warwick, R.I., fire interviewed moments after television news stations reported the agreement expressed anger and surprise and condemned Lynch for approving it.
``I'm crying. I'm not very happy. Four years! She was my sister! I wanted 25 years to life," said Michelle Hoell, 34, of West Warwick, whose sister Tammy Mattera-Housa, 29, died in the fire. She left behind two young children whom Hoell's family has struggled to care for.
``This has been a living hell for me," she added.
In his letter, Lynch said that the Derderians informed the judge they would agree to the plea last week, drawing strong condemnation from Rhode Island's top prosecutor.
``I respectfully disagree with, and object to, the sentences that the court intends to impose on Michael Derderian and Jeffrey Derderian. Most significantly, I strongly disagree with the court's intention to sentence Jeffrey Derderian to less than jail," he wrote in his letter to victims' families.
Hagerty, a former prosecutor in the attorney general's office, said that she was not surprised by the victims' denunciations but added that the sentences were fair.
``I understand that people are going to have that feeling," she said. But, she said, ``This was a tragic accident. Michael and Jeffrey Derderian were a link in a chain of missteps and mistakes that resulted in this tragedy. No one intended for this to happen."
The fire, the worst in the state's history, spurred changes in fire codes around the country.
Charles A. Sweet, who lost his 28-year-old son, Shaun, in the fire, heard the news on a Rhode Island television station.
``I cannot believe it. My wife and I are devastated," he said. ``I really figured these guys might serve a little bit of serious time."
Sweet said he had assumed that the four-year prison deal prosecutors struck with Daniel Biechele, the Great White band pyrotechnics manager who lit the fireworks that ignited foam used as soundproofing around the stage and set off the blaze, would pave the way for a tougher sentence for the Derderians.
``I thought Biechele was the fall guy so he could provide testimony against the Dederians," he said. ``What kind of justice is this?"
Sweet and his wife still visit their son's grave almost daily.
``His whole life was ahead of him, and he got burned to death," he said. ``To see these guys getting off is beyond my thinking."
Christopher Travis, 41, of Lakeville, escaped the fire. But he said his lungs still hurt from smoke inhalation. Informed of Lynch's decision, he paused for nearly a minute, then said, ``Wow. After four years, that's all it comes down to. That's an injustice. It's so sad.
``They ought to do life," said Travis, who managed to push his way out of the burning nightclub as the flames spread just behind him.
Victims of The Station fire also lashed out at Darigan's role in the decision. His letter was not available last night and attempts to contact him were not successful.
Travis said he was deeply skeptical of Darigan's decision.
`` I can't believe we've waited four years for a sentence and this is what we got," he said. ``I don't know how [Darigan] could face anybody."
Sweet agreed, saying, ``What kind of a judge is he? How could he do that? I don't think he's qualified. I'd like to have that judge come down and visit every graveyard where those victims are buried."
Andrew Horwitz, a law professor at Roger Williams University School of Law, said no verdict would likely satisfy survivors or victims' families. ``No outcome can bring back dead people," he said. ``Nobody can make the families and their victims whole." 