Prosecutor tells Ghost Ship jury perished partygoers had “no notice, no time, no exits”

OAKLAND — The prosecution on Tuesday morning laid out for the first before jurors its case against two men charged in the deadly Ghost Ship fire, taking a packed courtroom on a tour of the cluttered warehouse from its origins to Dec. 2, 2016, when 36 partygoers perished inside.

Before outlining lengths defendants Derick Almena and Max Harris allegedly took to hide the fact people were illegally living there and electrical work done by unlicensed contractors, prosecutor Casey Bates put a face to each of the charges.

Bates clicked through a slideshow with pictures of the 36 victims. For each victim, Almena and Harris face a count of involuntary manslaughter.

“Count 1, Jason McCarty … Count 2, Donna Kellog … Count 11, Peter Wadsworth…” Bates said, pausing at each slide. “And Count 36, Amanda Kershaw. All died because there was no notice, no time (to escape), no exits.”

More than two years after the blaze and months of court setbacks including a botched plea deal, Almena, 49, and Harris, 29, took their seats on Tuesday morning before the jury and Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson inside Rene C. Davidson Courthouse.

The Ghost Ship began as Satya Yuga art collective in November 2013, Bates told jurors, when Almena saw a Craigslist advertisement and contacted Eva Ng, whose family owns the 31st Avenue warehouse. Almena, according to an email Bates read aloud, said, “I love this space, I need this space.”

Weeks after leasing the space, things began to unravel, Bates said. Almena’s co-signer, Nicholas “Nico” Bouchard, left because of alterations Almena made to the property without the landlord’s consent, a violation of the lease. Bates said Bouchard and his mother will testify that Almena laughed at suggestions that changes to the building needed to be up to code.

Almena also ignored the advice of Rodney Griffin, a former friend who worked in construction, about how to transform the space, Bates told jurors. After Griffin gave estimates for a staircase and fire door totaling $5,000, Alemna told him, “we can do it better, cheaper.”

The hiring of unlicensed contractor Jacob “Jake” Jacobitz, Bates said, began years of unpermitted work, illegal living in a space zoned for commercial use, and stuffing dozens of pianos, organs, wooden artwork and RVs. Six months after the lease was signed, Griffin returned and described the warehouse as a “death trap.”

“Mr. Almena’s reaction, he laughed, and said maybe we should call this the ‘Satya Yuga Death Trap,’” Bates said. Griffin will testify, the prosecutor said.

Bates used evidence from Harris’ cell phone to support the prosecution’s assertion that he collected rents, created leases with tenants and promoted events at the Ghost Ship, including the one that ended in tragedy. A month-to-month lease with Bob Mule, who survived the fire, signed by Mule and Harris was shown to jurors.

The prosecution also played police body camera footage, showing Almena on multiple occasions telling officers that no one lived inside. On one occasion, Harris did the same. One chilling moment of Tuesday morning’s opening statements were 911 tapes, including from Ghost Ship resident Carmen Brito.

Opening statements resume at 2 p.m., beginning with Curtis Briggs, Harris’ attorney. Briggs and Tony Serra, who represents Almena, have shifted blame to city officials who visited the warehouse bu did not shut it down and the landlord who the attorneys claim knew people were living there. The trial is expected to last several weeks.

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