Jury on ‘eve of a decision,’ Ghost Ship defense attorney says during Day 8 of deliberations

OAKLAND — It’s been eight days of jury deliberations in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire trial, and although no sign of a verdict yet, a defense attorney speculates the jury could make a decision soon.

The jury of nine woman and three men spent Wednesday morning listening to testimony being read back to them from three witnesses: defendant Derick Almena, Nico Bouchard who co-signed the warehouse lease and Ryan O’Keefe, who was present the night of the fire.

Almena and Harris are charged with 36 counts each of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of three dozen people who died the night of the Dec. 2, 2016 fire during a dance and music party at the Ghost Ship warehouse on 31st Avenue in the Fruitvale district.

Tony Serra, the attorney for Almena, said he takes it as a good sign that the jury asked for the testimony of his client in its entirety.

“I think it’s every criminal defense lawyer’s fantasy, when his client testifies, to have the transcript read back to the jury,” Serra said Wednesday afternoon.

He stated that having the jury hear his client’s testimony right before making a decision is a positive.

Serra said he believes the jury is “on the eve of a decision.”

“This could be the final aspect of the case that they’re considering,” Serra said.

Almena was on the stand for four days in July, but when his testimony is read back to the jury, it would take less time because of a lack of objections, or pauses. Almena’s testimony read back was to begin Wednesday afternoon, and could take several hours, likely going into Thursday morning.

“Dare I be at this juncture jubilant? No, I have to wait and see what occurs next,” Serra said.

Of course, there’s no way of knowing where the jury is in their deliberation process. David Gregory, father of Michela Angelina Gregory, who perished in the fire, said that it’s been torture waiting for the verdict these past couple of weeks.

“Every day that passes the question mark gets bigger and bigger. I hope the jurors will make the right decision, and for me and my family and all the victims’ families, that is a guilty verdict,” Gregory said to this news organization.

He said the defense attorneys are the only ones making public statements, spinning every small development in their favor.

“We have no idea and we have no control in the outcome,” he said.

The jury began deliberating the afternoon of July 31, but only for about an hour that afternoon. Jurors typically meet between 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, but with a two-hour lunch break and two 15-minute breaks.

The jury hasn’t asked too many questions besides the request Tuesday afternoon for read-back of testimony and two questions on their very first day regarding definition of terms.

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