Prosecutors Cross-Examine Ghost Ship Fire Trial Defendant Max Harris

OAKLAND (KPIX) - On day two in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire trial, on the stand Max Harris was getting grilled by the prosecution in cross-examination, but opinions are mixed on how Harris was doing.

"He is totally lying," says Ivania Chavarria.

She lost her son Chase in the Ghost Ship fire. She's been sitting in court.

"My son died a horrible death in that fire ... they knew their death was coming," says Chavarria.

During cross-examination, prosecutors focused on electrical wiring and power outages, asking Harris if he knew the difference between a fuse popping and a fuse exploding.

"Man, by the way he was asking these questions you would think he was handing Max a gun with bloody fingerprints on it," says defense attorney Tyler Smith.

"I was a resident of the Ghost Ship ... I lived there twice," says Anthony Perrault, a friend of Harris.

Perrault worked with Harris at the Ghost Ship and believes the owners of the building should be held responsible, not Harris.

"The prosecuting side is doing all they can to make it seem as though it was a mess and unorganized and it's just really heartbreaking, and I think Max is doing great job," says Perrault.

Danielle Silva also supports Harris.

"He has always had the truth on his side here," says Silva. "He is not responsible for this and the people who are responsible for this aren't in there. "

But some victimss family members believe Harris and Derick Almena set up unsafe living conditions and they want justice.

"The one thing everyone knows is that walls stop fires from spreading and tapestries do all the contrary," says Chavarria. "They had extreme fuel in the warehouse and that's how the fire spread quickly."