Evening. Maureen kelly is at the Alameda County courthouse with the reaction from daraa come in as attorney and we begin with kron fours michelle kingston she has been following this trial from the very beginning michelle. The emotional day for everyone involved here in oakland max harris, hes a free man tonight Derick Almena the Master Tenant of that go ship warehouse where he remains in his santa rita jail cell tonight now we spoke to his attorneys they say that he is on a happy tonight, he is thinking about that fire. The party and all the victims involved. I just had a conversation with derick before they took him back the holding cell and he said that while he was. Really not to have been convicted. He has not and will not. Lose sight of the terrible tragedy. That occurred. The fact that he was somehow involved in it the fact that 36 families were shattered. The fact that there was the most. Unspeakable. While hes happy. In a sense to be on convicted. Hes very unhappy. When he thinks about what happened. And derrick l man and his attorneys will return here to this courthouse on october 4th for a possible new trial date. Were told that may happen sometime in march that new trial if there is one and they say that theyll win and that all is not a criminal back to you. Michelle thank you. As we mentioned erica will stay in custody moments after the verdict was read next harriss attorney Curtis Briggs address the media kron fours Maureen Kelly is live outside the courthouse with his reaction Defense Attorneys for max harris call him an innocent brilliant artist who should ever have been charged in the first place this lead attorney Curtis Briggs was smiling and hugging his colleagues when he came off the elevator out after the verdict came down. D spoke in and take a much more somber approach when he approached the microphone and addressed the reporters gathering waiting to hear from him. He apologized to the victims families said he said that he apology would hope that that may did nothing in the courtroom that would inflame them. He also said this is not a time before max harris to celebrate because he is still very sad about what happened and wished he had done more to try and save some of those people who lost their lives and obviously 36 people thats a its a heavy weight to carry. I would be also said that all talking about a possible retrial for derrick alameda, he said there would be no justice in last the landlord of the building. Were in the defendants chair as well. He also the 4 feet step up. Step up and be accountable for what happened the leaders of this city need to demand accountability and to tell us how theyre going to fix this problem. The jail at 36 people die in your community have fire marshals inspectors and firefighters and policend everybody involved in and try to blame it on to poor people. They couldnt afford attorneys, you know you cant do that. The magnitude of this tragedy is indicative of a complete bureaucratic and systemic breakdown that was never acknowledged by a government official. And i doubt that the community is any safer. I mean look at how many buildings have gone up and fired is why we were in trial. You know theres so much work to be done here and im just looking for the leader thats going to step up and do it. Now we know that max harris is due to be released today is expected to be released around 8 oclock tonight, his Attorney Says one of the first things hes expects his client to do its a havea nice the gun meal. Reporting from oakland. I morning kelly kron 4 news morning. Thank you tonight the family of the victims are reacting to the verdict on 4 says mind you it was in the courtroom when the verdict was announced he has reaction now on how the families of the victims are dealing with this outcome. As and it was a very emotional scene inside the courtroom winds the jury read the verdict that not guilty for max harrison, a hung jury for a gallon me that Derick Almena the wind the the counts were read the Family Member is released audible signs of of emotion in and you can hear that see the tears and you can hear them flying across the room in the judge said max that Derick Almena there was a hung jury in his case, the emotion of bring out even louder be caught up with one of the Family Members outside the courthouse. Sorry for the other families who are suffering. Our lawyers did a great job. They did their best. If you feel about next year is being this my daughters, i dont really i am. In all honesty. The worst day of my life. Was on december 2nd. They cant get worse too. Its just a lot of suffering after that and we continue to suffer. Lex harris is a free she will be soon once he is released from senator reid treated get santa rita jail which will be later tonight early tomorrow morning. Derick almena remains inside jail cell waiting for his next court date which will be october 4th for a pretrial hearing. If the da will decide at that time whether or not they want to go forward with another trial. Thats the latest live here in oakland Alameda County superior courthouse hasnt met you kron 4 news has a thank you want to turn now to a criminadefense attorney paula canny for some. Analysis so paula for says whats your take overall on this verdict who well was just sometimes tragedies. And that they cant be fixed or saw 5 a criminal prosecution, i mean im sure the harris team is super relieved that he was found not guilty. Im sure that our men is team is relieved he he wasnt convicted. Though they stressor of whats going to come next. But cars with that and guilty to not guilty. A jury split. Its pretty persie abul that the prosecution is going to retry. But then he will be along on trial. Its super stressful and recall all boast Derick Almena and harris were in custody. This entire time pre trial. I mean the firm first time the court set bail. Theyre each ad bales of an Million Dollars the Alameda County bail schedules. 30,000 account 36 counts times 30 then somebody reduced it to 750,000 nobody can make that kind of bail these guys are. You know al man will stay in custody and and harris, you know will get out tonight and bows our is scarred in many ways is the victims family because they also law friends and this and they feel terrible. The Legal Process is not over with this verdict so max harris walks away from the criminal side of this trial but were looking at a civil trial ahead and the possibility of all men are going through another criminal trial, correct. Really interesting point because in man is criminal trial. Terrorists could be called as a witness for. And not be stressed out about being still a defendants right to a cause. He is free he is not guilty is at an advantage for one side or the other. Then its for the defense. And its interesting the prosecution could call harrison try and make him be their witness to blame el manana and he has no defense he cant take the 5th amendment and say i dont want to testify and because he is acquitted. Hes finished its over and then ironically in the civil case which is set to go to trial. Where the many of the victims families are the plaintiffs and they are suing. Property owner who the das office decided not to prosecute. Various city of oakland officials Alameda County officials and pg any regarding all this stuff, but theyre a us will be called to testify at that trial. Well as well. Weve got in the jury and we have 3 new members who came on they did not take very long to against catch up on what have been that the a shun of the other members of the after the new members are brought on what likely you surprised that they were able to come to this agreement and a matter of days with the new jurors also does the defense for elmen and now get a chance to talk to members of the jury is that allowed. Yes. So the judge said its up to the jury it is to who they want to speak to the judge also gave the jurors a nap, mission that they cant receive any money for 90 days should they choose to talk to somebody like get a book deal or any of that. But its up to each individual juror if they want to talk to the defense and so absolutely the allman, a defense team is going to go out interview the jurors and see what they found persuasive what they didnt find persuasive. So are the prosecutors, everybody wants to know what these 12 people thinking and your point about the replacing of the 3 jurors. Deliberated for 10 days. Those 3 words they reached a verdict on the 14th day with it you know almost it 2 week high it has so thats pretty unusual but this new group of 12 reached it reached a verdict and about 3 days so i mean that is super interesting and doesnt bode well in some ways for the prosecution. All right paula can i again thank you so she initiator analysis. Still ahead tonight more on our ship coverage. Well take you live to the santa rita jail in dublin as santa rita jail in dublin as well max harris i the ross fall Fashion Event has all the looks for way less. Check this out thats yes for less. Get the brands you love and save 20 to 60 off Department Store prices. At the ross fall Fashion Event. On now. At the ross fall family is all togetherect. And we switched to geico; saved money on our boat insurance. 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He has been free of course as we know that decision coming after 02 00pm and he has been behind bars here for about 2 years but were told he may not walk out the front door just behind me this ramp that is where most defendants walk out when they are released from jail. So were told he may be accommodated just with the situation. We have not seen that much activity since weve been out here where i am this is where those defendants eyes. I mention come out we havent seen any of their cars or other exits but again were told by Alameda CountySheriffs Office that this could happen any time at first we were told it would happen at 8 oclock. So this of course is really up to Mister Harris so our hope is that he will talk to us as his reaction is something that people would want to hear and of course were not sure if he will talk to us about of course, and you know his situation. He was arrested first in 2017 of june with his connection to the fire. His role, the dorm and the guy collecting money for rent and of course the jury found. He was acquitted. Killings of the fire. So right now were just here on standby just trying to keep an eye out. Again that the fate for the codefendant derrick, i mean it not the same story as he is still here at a jail cell at the santa rita jail thats the very latest from here in dublin else in the back to you. All right, thank you, gayle and well stay in touch with developments there at the jail site. We do want to go and get the information thats risa has been collecting today. Yeah, shes been at the courthouse covering events there and heres her report. Im here with Sergeant Ray Kelly with the Alameda County sheriffs department, the spokesperson for the department. Max harris acquitted now what happens. So we a special transport for him back to a santa rita jail in dublin. And during the next a 3 to 4 hours will be processing out of that facility and then once hes done there to be a free person walk out of our jail. As you have personal effects is he does hes been in our custody for a couple years now and so i would imagine hes writings and personal effects that hes probably going to want will be allowed access to go back and get those then be given a all his clothes and property that he came into our jail facility with us and then well make sure that he safely get out of our facility. You spoke with his girlfriend. Obviously she came out very emotional. Is there any special circumstances are special. You know access that you allow them to leave the center in a jam. Well, i mean this is a unique case i mean typically a person would just walk out of our jail but this is such a highprofile event that we need to make sure Mister Harris gets where he needs to go. Without a without any people in his way. I think if you walked out the front of our jail he would likely be bombarded by dozens and dozens of news cameras so well have a conversation with him today see whats in his best interest what he feels safe us with and well get him where he needs to go so youll have a choice. Well give him a choice to give that opportunity ok anything else you think is important mister mehta stays in custody. He does as for now, yeah, i mean mister Mister Harris was really ordered released forthwith by the judge. Mister harris remains in custody on his current bail status. There will the next court date is october 4th, there may be theyll hearing prior to that and at that point things could change. But as of now he will remain in custody, the way he has for the last couple years anything else that is important is that you think the public should know about this is been a long ordeal. Theres been a long ordeal for for this county. For all the First Responders that respond to that event on that night. And that weve been dealing with this for 3 and a half i met with a lot of the Family Members today, itg a very emotional time for them and for a lot of us that have a Public Service uh and the media as well that have covered this case for the last 2 and a half years, its been a long road. And so maybe today is the start of some. The beginning of some healing for some folks and so we hope so what was the general tenor sensing from some of the Family Members. I think they just a they were st thankful. They were thankful to the First Responders they were thankful to all the people that have supported and lifted them up and theyre wonderful people of families and so. Here in oakland traces stasio kron 4 news. The weekend fast approaching and it is expected to be a nice one for much time now for 4 zone forecast the first want to show you the conditions outside as Hurricane Dorian continues to churn along the east coast a ina. Our chief meteorologist Lawrence Karnow is here with the. Update on whats happening with Hurricane Dorian as well as our local weather cast been up all all kinds of trouble what a mess hundreds of thousands of people without power now. As dorian moves right along the carolinas. There what a wicked storm. This is it is now a category 2 so somewhat weaker, but still a very dangerous and potentially deadly storm system spinning up all kinds of trouble not only the rain weve had a tremendous amounts of rain some places over 12 inches so far but the winds gusting almost a 100 of Miles Per Hour right along the coastline. Look at the eye it is right near cape fear. Southport right now you can see just off the coastline right now theyre getting the full brunt of all is very strong Hurricane Force winds right now to go along with that had numerous tornadoes popping up as well well have more on that a second, but look at the storm system kind of his role in right up the i maintain a really straight because sitting over water this came on shore. It is start to weaken right away, but it is just off the coastline running over the coal or warm water here and that is able to maintain the strength to ride along myrtle beach wilmington. You can see the storm system to get a little bit closer re of about 3 inches an hour have been coming down theyve got numerous flash flooding around parts of South Carolina and now making its way to North Carolina to in fact expecting these winds to continue to whip look at that over 50 Miles Per Hour at myrtle beach just beginning to pick up more so in wilmington and you see all those Morehead City over 40 Miles Per Hour. Damage reported all along the coastline, especially spots inland, not as bad. But weve got tornado watches continuing in effect now you can see all the way from north of wilmington through morehead all the way to norfolk is were expecting a chance of more tornadoes and they have been popping up all around numerous tornadoes, dropping down doing damage water spouts coming right up the coastline. Thats what happens you get these thunderstorms usually these storms the type of tornadoes with the hurricanes. Not a stronger something you see in the middle United States but Strong Enough to do a lot of damage if they have to land in your neighborhood and they certainly can see more of those overnight tonight and its tomorrow. Another problem is a storm surge looking at 4 to 7 feet storm surges that rain and the waters going to try to make its way back into the ocean is not going to be able to do that the water is going to be rising and that is going to cause coastal flooding along that entire area. Heres the very latest forecast track you can see moving up along the coastline here and then possibly making landfall Morehead CityCape Hatteras and then finally moving out to sea late on friday and into saturday looks like well be done with that storm system as it begins to move out of town. Around the bay area totally different story weve got numbers in the 80s inland forecast for friday 70s around the bay and some 60s along the coastline. Temperatures so the next 2 days really going to take a nosedive much cooler weather expected on saturday and staying down early next week. Thank you lawrence were still following the latest in the go ship trial. We have reporters at the courthouse. And at the county jail where and at the county jail where max at at t we believe in access. The opportunity for everyone to explore a digital world. Connecting with the things that matter most. And because nothing keeps us more connected than the internet. Weve created access from at t california households with at least one resident who receives snap or ssi benefits. May qualify for Home Internet at a discounted rate of 10 a month. No commitment, deposit, or installation fee. Visit att. Com accessnow, to learn more. Flames. And were getting comments. The long road to justice begins. Knowingly created a. A defiant jailhouse interview and it wasnt me. In an emotional trial bringing new pain for victims families i can sleep a night now so. Every chance i can. Tonight a longawaited verdict has been reached in the trial of the ghost ship warehouse fire. Max harris was found not guilty. But a mistrial was declared in the case against eric amana. We want to take you back to december second 9 to 2016 thats one concert goers gathered for a night of music and fun. But that night turned into tragedy for gun walking through the chaotic moments from that night and what happened in the days that followed. 2016 a friday night. People showed up for a dance party at an off the grid haven for oaklands creative community. Suddenly and others. I just heard somebody the all out fire. Fire extinguisher. I was different. With his clothes small during this resident trying to save a fellow tenants with a broken ankle it had to leave him behind. It was a window of mi 5 minutes between the fire happening. And you just didnt get out the nearest fire station was just a block away when the first engines arrived at 1130. There were no signs of life by that time the entire second floor had collapsed. These young people were texting their families telling them that they love them or that they were going to die firefighters say they tried to enter the building but the dense smoke and debris on the floor made it unsafe. It took. The fire that survivable daylight revealed the devatation as investigators began the difficult job of searching for human remains. It was heartbreaking. 36 bodies were identified in the ashes, the highest number of