More on the Great White fire at The Station, NYT:
Speaking today in the courtroom of Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr., David Griffith, whose brother Scott died in the blaze, said that “all of us have been victimized a second time” by the plea deal.
Judge Darigan acknowledged that many relatives found the agreement inadequate but said he was pressing forward with it. In a letter sent last week to the victims’ families, Judge Darigan said he had decided to strike the deal in part to avoid “public exposition of the tragic, explicit and horrific events experienced by the victims of this fire, both living and dead.”
One relative retorted today in the courtroom, “A trial would have been too hard on you, judge.”
The agreement provides that Jeffrey A. Derderian, 39, be sentenced to 500 hours of community service, but no jail time. His brother Michael, 45, would receive four years in jail.
Here.