OAKLAND, Calif. -- A California judge on Friday rejected the plea deals of two men who were charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter after a 2016 California warehouse fire.
In handing down his decision, Judge James Cramer said Derick Almena, 48, didn't accept "full responsibility and remorse" for the fatal blaze that occurred during an unlicensed concert at the dilapidated Oakland warehouse known as the "Ghost Ship."
The plea deal had called for Almena to be sentenced to nine years in prison and Max Harris, 28, to six years. Relatives of victims who died in the blaze had slammed the proposed sentences as too lenient.
Prosecutors said the two men had turned the warehouse into a residential "death trap."
Almena's attorney, Tony Serra, told reporters after Friday's hearing that he will take the case to trial.
A Section on 08/11/2018