OAKLAND, CA (KMJ) – A judge has ordered deliberations to start all over in the Ghost Ship trial.
Defendants Derick Almena and Max Harris are charged with involuntary manslaughter.
They are accused of turning a San Francisco Bay area warehouse into a cluttered maze where 36 partygoers died during the “Ghost Ship” fire on December 2, 2016.
Prosecutors say the men illegally converted the industrial building into an artist live-work space, and stuffed it with highly combustible materials that ended up trapping the people inside trying to escape the blaze that began during an electronic music show.
On Monday, August 19 – the 10th day of deliberations at the Alameda County Superior Court, Judge Trina Thompson excused three jurors.
It’s immediately unclear why the three were removed but it leaves only one alternate left.
The jury of nine women and three men had been deliberating since July 31.
The three removed jurors would likely be subject to a gag order, and not be allowed to discuss why they were removed from the trial or the status of deliberation.
Both Harris and Almena face up to 36 years in prison if they do get convicted.
Click to hear the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
