Biechele May Testify

Attorneys want former Great White tour manager Dan Biechele to testify in a civil trial, and a federal magistrate agreed August 3rd.

Biechele is serving a four-year prison sentence but is up for parole in September. Meanwhile, a civil suit has been filed in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., and attorneys representing the families of 100 people killed in the 2003 nightclub fire in West Warwick want answers – from Biechele.

The former tour manager pleaded guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter for lighting pyro inside The Station nightclub, igniting a deadly blaze.

Lawyers representing a few hundred survivors and victims’ families have sued dozens of defendants, including band members and foam manufacturers. They believe Biechele could provide testimony that would help their case.

U.S. Magistrate Judge David Martin agreed Biechele could testify but said he can invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination in an attempt to avid answering questions he believes might subject him to additional prosecution.

However, Martin rejected the argument of Biechele’s attorneys that their client, if questioned, could face federal prosecution or be charged in other states for transporting and using pyrotechnics.

Martin lifted a court order, entered in 2005, that protected Biechele from cooperating with plaintiffs’ attorneys, saying the "legal landscape has changed considerably."

Biechele’s attorney, Thomas Briody, declined to comment except to say the ruling spoke for itself.