Source: Oakland Ghost Warehouse Ship Fire Defendants Make Plea Deal
OAKLAND (KPIX) -- There was a major development in a closely watched criminal case Friday as KPIX 5 learned that the two men charged in the deadly Ghost Ship warehouse fire have made a deal with prosecutors.
A source close to the case tells KPIX 5 that all sides have come to a preliminary agreement. However the judge did not announce that in court Friday afternoon and will not make any public announcements of the plea deal until next Tuesday.
The source tells KPIX that the reason behind the delay is to allow the prosecutors to share that agreement with all 36 victims' families first out of respect for them.
As for the plea deal, KPIX 5 understands that master tenant Derick Almena and co-defendant Max Harris plan to plead no contest to the involuntary manslaughter charges.
As for how many years in prison the defendants would serve under the terms of the deal, no details were provided.
It was previously reported that a plea deal would be for both defendants to serve 8 years, but KPIX 5 was told by the source that's not the agreement they had Friday.
The defense attorneys only spoke briefly when they walked out of the courtroom Friday afternoon.
"We are forbidden to talk until Tuesday," said attorney Tony Serra emphatically in the hallway outside of the Oakland courtroom.
Earlier Tuesday, Serra said that a deal for Almena was close at hand. However he warned that talks could still break down during the meeting to finalize the deal with a judge.
Curtis Briggs, the attorney representing Max Harris, echoed Serra's brief announcement.
"No statement today. We're going to be back on Tuesday, July 3rd, at 2 o'clock. We can't give any statement right now," said Briggs.
Apparently Judge Morris Jacobson brokered the package deal. Both defendants had to accept the deal, or it would be called off.
As for the victims' families, KPIX 5 spoke to attorney Mary Alexander, who represents 12 of the families. She said that the families trust the prosecutors and would be satisfied with any plea deal that the prosecution would agree to.
