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Interview With Jeffrey Derderian's Attorney

Aired February 26, 2003 - 14:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As we mentioned, a grand jury has begun the process of ascertaining what criminal charges, if any, are warranted from last week's nightclub fire in Rhode Island. The band Great White returned to Rhode Island today, as Brian Cabell has been reporting, under a subpoena, and grand jurors surely want to hear from club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian as well.
Attorney Jeffrey Pine, who represents Jeff Derderian, joins me here in Atlanta with some insights on the investigation. Thanks for being with us.

JEFFREY PINE, ATTORNEY: Good afternoon.

COOPER: Will Jeff Derderian testify in front of the grand jury?

PINE: He has not yet been subpoenaed, and certainly has been willing to cooperate and assist in the investigation thus far, has provided documents, has spoken to a member of the West Warwick Police Department, as well as a member of the attorney general's office, and remains committed to assisting in whatever way he can so that the grand jury can get to the bottom of this.

COOPER: You say he has been cooperative. We have heard from the attorney general of Rhode Island over the last several days, Attorney General Lynch, who has been saying that Jeff Derderian, Michael Derderian have been less than cooperative. I mean, he has been sort of very careful in exactly how he has phrased it, but he has intimated that the band has been cooperative, they've talked as often as investigators have wanted, but that they really have not heard from Jeff Derderian.

PINE: Yes. I'm not sure what the motivation for that is because it's clear that on the night of the fire, Jeff Derderian was there and spoke with in the immediate aftermath a West Warwick police officer and a prosecutor. And since then has provided documents as recently as today through an attorney that will be helpful to the law enforcement officials.

COOPER: But have there been meetings -- has the attorney general said we want you to come in, and Jeff Derderian said no?

PINE: No. No. It's kind of been an open invitation, or just kind of a daily invitation from the attorney general, but nothing has been set up, and now that I represent Mr. Derderian, when I get back to Providence, I have every intention of speaking with the attorney general's representatives and facilitating the next face-to-face meeting. COOPER: So if Attorney General Lynch said to you, We want to meet with Jeff Derderian tomorrow, would you be willing to do that?

PINE: Well, logistically, since I'm here, that would not be possible, and I would not advise him to do that.

COOPER: Well, when you get back to...

PINE: I'm going back at the end of the week over the weekend.

COOPER: So if he said we want to meet on Saturday or Sunday, when you get back...

PINE: Right -- I would call Mr. Lynch, and I would say, Let's work this out, I would like to speak to you, and see where the investigation is heading.

One of the problems I might point is, while the attorney general has been saying we would like to speak to them, the chief of the West Warwick Police Department within 24 hours of the event said that he expected that criminal charges would be filed against either or both of the Derderians. So, on the one hand, you have the cops saying, We expect you to be charged, and nobody in their right mind is just going to walk into the attorney general's office after the police officer has already named them as a target.

COOPER: Well, you just said that you would be willing to speak to the attorney general, but would you advise your client, Jeff Derderian, to speak to the attorney general?

PINE: I will speak to the members of the attorney general's department, and then I will evaluate the situation, and advise my client accordingly.

COOPER: So it's possible you might advise your client, Do not speak to the attorney general?

PINE: Right now, it appears to me the attorney general's spokesman, or the attorney general and the West Warwick police may be on a little bit of a different page with their naming names as to possible charges and people. I don't think that's necessarily appropriate or -- it's premature, for certainly.

So my role will be to determine what the situation is, assist my clients in providing whatever documentation and other evidence that they can provide to assist in the investigation, and advise them accordingly as to how, when, and where to best meet with the representatives of the attorney general.

COOPER: Do you expect arrests will be made?

PINE: At some point, at the conclusion of the grand jury process, it could very well happen. I would hope that the focus of the grand jury process is on the band or the band members or people affiliated with the band, who, in my opinion, are responsible for the pyrotechnics that led to this awful fire, and for the lighting of the fuse, if you will, that ignited this fire. That had nothing to do with Jeff and Michael Derderian. That had everything to do with members of the band, or people affiliated with the band.

COOPER: And there is a grand jury right now empowered with trying to determine exactly what happened. Jeffrey Pine, we appreciate you joining us.

PINE: Sure.

COOPER: Thanks very much.

PINE: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 26, 2003 - 14:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As we mentioned, a grand jury has begun the process of ascertaining what criminal charges, if any, are warranted from last week's nightclub fire in Rhode Island. The band Great White returned to Rhode Island today, as Brian Cabell has been reporting, under a subpoena, and grand jurors surely want to hear from club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian as well.
Attorney Jeffrey Pine, who represents Jeff Derderian, joins me here in Atlanta with some insights on the investigation. Thanks for being with us.

JEFFREY PINE, ATTORNEY: Good afternoon.

COOPER: Will Jeff Derderian testify in front of the grand jury?

PINE: He has not yet been subpoenaed, and certainly has been willing to cooperate and assist in the investigation thus far, has provided documents, has spoken to a member of the West Warwick Police Department, as well as a member of the attorney general's office, and remains committed to assisting in whatever way he can so that the grand jury can get to the bottom of this.

COOPER: You say he has been cooperative. We have heard from the attorney general of Rhode Island over the last several days, Attorney General Lynch, who has been saying that Jeff Derderian, Michael Derderian have been less than cooperative. I mean, he has been sort of very careful in exactly how he has phrased it, but he has intimated that the band has been cooperative, they've talked as often as investigators have wanted, but that they really have not heard from Jeff Derderian.

PINE: Yes. I'm not sure what the motivation for that is because it's clear that on the night of the fire, Jeff Derderian was there and spoke with in the immediate aftermath a West Warwick police officer and a prosecutor. And since then has provided documents as recently as today through an attorney that will be helpful to the law enforcement officials.

COOPER: But have there been meetings -- has the attorney general said we want you to come in, and Jeff Derderian said no?

PINE: No. No. It's kind of been an open invitation, or just kind of a daily invitation from the attorney general, but nothing has been set up, and now that I represent Mr. Derderian, when I get back to Providence, I have every intention of speaking with the attorney general's representatives and facilitating the next face-to-face meeting. COOPER: So if Attorney General Lynch said to you, We want to meet with Jeff Derderian tomorrow, would you be willing to do that?

PINE: Well, logistically, since I'm here, that would not be possible, and I would not advise him to do that.

COOPER: Well, when you get back to...

PINE: I'm going back at the end of the week over the weekend.

COOPER: So if he said we want to meet on Saturday or Sunday, when you get back...

PINE: Right -- I would call Mr. Lynch, and I would say, Let's work this out, I would like to speak to you, and see where the investigation is heading.

One of the problems I might point is, while the attorney general has been saying we would like to speak to them, the chief of the West Warwick Police Department within 24 hours of the event said that he expected that criminal charges would be filed against either or both of the Derderians. So, on the one hand, you have the cops saying, We expect you to be charged, and nobody in their right mind is just going to walk into the attorney general's office after the police officer has already named them as a target.

COOPER: Well, you just said that you would be willing to speak to the attorney general, but would you advise your client, Jeff Derderian, to speak to the attorney general?

PINE: I will speak to the members of the attorney general's department, and then I will evaluate the situation, and advise my client accordingly.

COOPER: So it's possible you might advise your client, Do not speak to the attorney general?

PINE: Right now, it appears to me the attorney general's spokesman, or the attorney general and the West Warwick police may be on a little bit of a different page with their naming names as to possible charges and people. I don't think that's necessarily appropriate or -- it's premature, for certainly.

So my role will be to determine what the situation is, assist my clients in providing whatever documentation and other evidence that they can provide to assist in the investigation, and advise them accordingly as to how, when, and where to best meet with the representatives of the attorney general.

COOPER: Do you expect arrests will be made?

PINE: At some point, at the conclusion of the grand jury process, it could very well happen. I would hope that the focus of the grand jury process is on the band or the band members or people affiliated with the band, who, in my opinion, are responsible for the pyrotechnics that led to this awful fire, and for the lighting of the fuse, if you will, that ignited this fire. That had nothing to do with Jeff and Michael Derderian. That had everything to do with members of the band, or people affiliated with the band.

COOPER: And there is a grand jury right now empowered with trying to determine exactly what happened. Jeffrey Pine, we appreciate you joining us.

PINE: Sure.

COOPER: Thanks very much.

PINE: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com