Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

The Rhode Island Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal from The Providence Journal seeking to see questionnaires filled out by prospective jurors in one of the criminal cases that sprang from The Station nightclub fire.

After the February 2003 fire that claimed 100 lives, three people were charged with involuntary manslaughter: the band manager who shot off fireworks that started the fatal blaze and the two owners of the club who installed highly flammable polyurethane foam on the club's walls as soundproofing.

When the Superior Court began selecting jurors in the case of one of the club owners, Michael A. Derderian, it used a written questionnaire in place of oral questioning in open court. Similar questionnaires have been used in at least one trial since, but the judge there destroyed them before The Journal could seek a ruling on whether they are public.

After filling out the questionnaires, prospective Station fire jurors were told they would return to court, where lawyers might interrogate them about their answers. But, before that happened, Derderian and his brother, Jeffrey A. Derderian, the club's co-owner, pleaded no contest and the trial was averted.

Because the public has a constitutional right to attend juror questioning in open court, The Journal argued that the written questionnaires should be made public.

Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. rejected that argument, and the newspaper appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court Friday refused to consider the question. Instead, in an opinion authored by Justice Paul Suttell, Governor Carcieri's nominee to be chief justice, the court dismissed the case, saying there is no issue to be decided because Derderian's case is over and it is unlikely the circumstances like The Station fire will arise again.

Read the state Supreme Court's ruling on The Journal's request.

Kristin E. Rodgers, who argued The Journal's case before the Supreme Court, said she was disappointed by the decision.

"The question was not whether the tragic circumstances of the Station fire will ever be repeated, but it was whether trial justices are going to use jury questionnaires in the future," Rodgers said.

"We're disappointed because this was an opportunity to properly guide the trial judges on the use of jury questionnaires," she said.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch was pleased by the ruling.

"The decision is saying the point is moot because the case is over," said Michael J. Healey, Lynch's spokesman. "A practical outcome of it, though, is that the court is recognizing the legitimate privacy issues of jurors and prospective jurors."

-- With updates from Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

The original version of this story was posrted at 12:24 p.m.

CORRECTION: The earlier version of this story incorrectly said the state Supreme Court indicated it was unlikely the issue of public access to juror questionnaires will arise again.

 Tags  RI Supreme Court Station fire The Providence Journal

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