R.I. club owners sentenced for '03 fire

[shawmut]

By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago

WARWICK, R.I. - Relatives of the 100 people killed in a nightclub fire vented their grief and fury and berated the judge Friday, but were unable to derail a plea bargain in which one of the club's owners received four years behind bars and the other got no prison time at all.

Michael Derderian, who received the prison sentence, and his brother, Jeffrey, pleaded no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 2003 fire, which was sparked by a band's pyrotechnics and quickly engulfed The Station nightclub because they had installed highly flammable foam to ease neighbors' noise concerns.

Judge Francis Darigan refused to reconsider the plea bargains, which he said would avoid a long, heartwrenching trial. Victims' families were angry not only over the sentences but because they believed a trial would have told them more about how and why their loved ones died.

"Lady Justice in Rhode Island is blind, but she's also deaf," testified Jay McLaughlin, the brother-in-law of victims Sandy and Michael Hoogasian. Other family members applauded as he returned to his seat.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060929/ap_on_re_us/nightclub_fire

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

1. No Biggie....

Their actions only resulted in the deaths of 100 young people.

It's just not fair to expect them to serve a life sentence.

:sarcasm:

This is ONE FUCKED UP COUNTRY!

[Barrett808]

4. Hey, Bush's actions kill 100 Iraqis every day.

That's leadership.

[Double T]

2. It is time for everyone involved to get on with their lives.............

nothing would be gained by longer prison sentences and further retribution.

[LostinVA]

6. I can't agree with you on this

They purposely violated safety laws, and killed 100 people, all for more money in their pockets.

They should each get 20 years, minimum.

What does it gain? It gains a nano-iota of justice for those killed. Anything else is totally blowing off their deaths, and the suffering by those who survived (both families and victims).

[NOLADEM]

3. Wow

These men better change their names and run. One of the family members is really gonna go Rock n Roll on these guys.

Life sentances? Nah. They did not have intent, and if we are gonna be fair, then we need to lock away those who break fire codes, even when no deaths occur.

But 4 years and no years? These guys are at personal safety risk from such bullshit sentances. At least a few months per casulty for both.

[go west young man]

5. Only 1 of the brothers was truly responsible and he took blame

from the get go. The difference between these gys and Bush is that they show remorse and understood from the beginning that they bear some responsibility and deserve to be punished in some way. 4 years sounds right to me as they never intended to hurt anyone. It's a terrible tragedy and nothing will bring those people back but it was a series of events that led to the fire. The band's lighting crew should have realized the ceiling's were too low. They shouldn't have used the pyrotechnics in the first place. They paid for their mistake with the loss of their guitarist's life.The club owners didn't realize their soundproofing material was incredibly flammible. The sentence seems right to me because it will get the message across to other club owners that they need to follow the fire codes or be willing to do jail time.

[rainbow4321]

7. 100 dead people=4 yrs...meanwhile (in TX)...kill a cat = 8 years

Please don't me wrong...I love animals and this guy is a creep. But I saw both articles/jail sentences today and the 4 yrs vs 8 yrs/100 humans vs cat is nauseating.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8KEG9602.html


A Dallas man who admits torturing a cat "for a big laugh" has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Twenty-one-year-old Ryan Vincent Coleman earlier this week pleaded guilty to animal cruelty with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced yesterday.

Authorities say the kitty named "Tiger" died after the 2003 attack in which the animal was shot with a B-B gun, stomped on, mutilated and set on fire.

Investigators say part of the attack was videotaped.