Nightclub fire transcripts to be released

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Transcripts of secret testimony used to indict three suspects in the deadly fire at Rhode Island's Station nightclub are set to be made public.

The Providence (R.I.) Journal reported Superior Court Presiding Judge Joseph F. Rodgers Jr. ruled Thursday the transcripts used in by the grand jury to indict the three men in the deadly 2003 fire would be made public.

The disclosure was based on a request by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, who had previously pledged to the relatives of the 100 people killed in the nightclub fire that he would make public all pertinent information. Lynch has promised to post edited transcipts on the Internet by the end of January.

Now Lynch can begin to make good on that promise and reveal the information that helped a jury indict Station owners Michael and Jeffrey A. Derderian and tour manager Daniel M. Biechele on involuntary manslaughter charges.

The three convicted men did not oppose the release. They along with many other defendants have been sued for their alleged roles in the fire.

"More than the Derderians or Biechele, who have already faced a great deal of public scrutiny and have been determined to bear criminal responsibility for the fire," Rodgers said of his decision, "it is these other individuals whom the policy of secrecy seeks to protect from ridicule."

The three men accepted plea deals. Biechele and Michael Derderian were sentenced to four years in prison, while Jeffrey Derderian was ordered to perform 500 hours of community service