DUBLIN, Calif. – A man facing a second trial after a fire killed 36 partygoers at a San Francisco Bay Area warehouse he's accused of illegally converting into a cluttered artists enclave was released from jail Monday over coronavirus concerns.
Derick Almena, who's been behind bars since 2017, was released after a court hearing by phone, the Alameda County sheriff's office said.
He will be under electronic monitoring while he waits for a new trial. The 50-year-old is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Dec.
2, 2016, fire that swept through an electronic music party at the so-called Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland. Prosecutors allege Almena, who was the master tenant on the lease, was criminally negligent when he turned the