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District Attorney Investigating the Ghost Ship Fire Still Waiting on Final Report from the City

Three months after the fire, no official cause of the fire or report on the fire has been released.
Photo of Ghost Ship fire memorial via Flickr user Archie.

The city of Oakland has denied Alameda County prosecutors access to the report created on the Ghost Ship fire, the East Bay Times reports.

According to the paper, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office has requested the report for the past month from the Oakland Fire Department and City Attorney's Office. Oakland City Attorney spokesman Alex Katz said the city will not hand over the report until it is completed. The document is reportedly in draft form and in the final stage of technical review, said Katz.

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The city's delay in providing the report may violate the law.

"In my view, the fire department and the city attorney must turn over everything they have (unredacted, unedited) re: the investigation into the Ghost Ship fire," said former Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell in an email to the East Bay Times. "The failure to do so could result in placing the DA in violation of Brady."

Brady refers to, Brady vs. Maryland, a U.S. Supreme Court case regarding due process that, "requires prosecutors to share all evidence with the defense."

Thirty-six people died in the December 2 fire in the Ghost Ship warehouse space. The Alameda County District Attorney launched a criminal investigation in the immediate days after the fire. According to the East Bay Times, a cause for the fire (as well as the final report) has not been announced.

Read more about the impending case and view emails between the District Attorney's Office and the Oakland Fire Department and City Attorney's Office here. In February, it was reported that Oakland officials inspected the Ghost Ship space numerous times before the fatal fire and took no action.