♪ ha, so i made my own decision ♪ ♪ my assignment here is done ♪ and i won't let your karma rain on my future sunny days ♪ [ camera shutter clicking ] live where you live, this is abc7 news.

>> tears of joy from one family as a man is released from san quentin after spending 25 years on death row. good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm alma daetz. prosecutors and the family of the victim still believe he is guilty. >> abc7 news reporter kate larson is in the newsroom to explain why he was freed. kate? >> reporter: well, dan, alma, the state supreme court believes medical testimony at his 1993 trial was false. he was sentenced to death for sexually assaulting and killing 21-month-old consuelo verdugo, 21-month-old consuelo verdugo, he was baby-sitting her in the town of delano near bakersfield. her sister is shocked and still thinks he is guilty. after 25 years on death row, he walked into the arms of waiting friends and family outside san quentin.

68-year-old told reporters in spanish he was very happy. his attorney didn't say much more. >> of course we are elated by the fact he was released today. he was wrongfully convicted over 25 years ago and we are very grateful this day finally has come. >> reporter: kirk county lisa green decided ton refile charges against him after medical testimony about the toddler's injuries and whether she was sexually assaulted fell apart. but she still thinks he is guilty of murder. >> i believe that he did kill this child in a inflicted blunt force trauma on this child. >> human beings make mistakes. >> reporter: the human rights attorney who has represented more than a hundred people who faced the death penalty, the kern county's mistakes past and frent are why he should be free. >> they don't have reasonable doubt he is guilty. he is innocent as you are and i am sitting here. >> reporter: under state law he is now eligibe for services

like housing assistance and job training. kate larson, abc7 news. >> a brother of stephon clark, the unarmed black man killed by sacramento police has been arrested. he was arrested of felony assault and vandalism, making criminal threats and abusing 911. clark has been in the spotlight since his brother's death last month. he disrupted a city council meeting in late march and told the mayor to shut up. a video posted on clark's facebook page, he was seen carrying a dagger or machete, saying, quote, i want the mayor, i want the chief. court records also show clark's girlfriend sought a restraining order against him yesterday. it's a bay area first. a cannabis crawl is set to happen in oakland in honor of 4-20 a national holiday inn cannabis culture. elise has more on preparations underway. >> it's the first time we've had a legal in 24 years in state of

california. >> reporter: a cannabis college in oakland is organizing can-a-crawl. >> decriminalized it, that gives the people and the community an opportunity to have events such as this. >> reporter: justice january, california legalized adult use of marijuana without a medical card. but back in 2012, dea agents raided oakster dam and temporarily shut it down. can-a-crawl is a way to celebrate progress. now all kinds of businesses around telegraph avenue are getting involved. >> i think it is really awesome that the restaurants and other businesses are starting to get involved because it shows their support. >> reporter: these bracelets offer can-a-crawl attendees discounts at participating businesses. here at harbor side dispensary this place is already packed and on 4-20 they'll offer even deeper discounts. >> it's going to be a fun time along with everybody getting a little, you know, high in a sense. so, it's not going to be like

everybody is getting drunk and crazy. >> it's not a dangerous thing. we're not out in the streets, you know, going all wild and anything like that. >> reporter: still many law enforcement agencies plan to add patrols friday. in oakland, lisa, abc7 news. >> thousands are expected to light up in golden gate park tomorrow. city officials neither sanction nor condone the pot holiday, but they say it's not going away. it's going to happen. the city is working with a private sponsor to pay for fencing, security, and park maintenance. san francisco police tweeted out this reminder before 4:20 tomorrow, don't drink and drive, smoke and drive, or text and drive. aaa will offer its tipsy toe service from 4:25 p.m. friday to 4:20 a.m. saturday. >> new developments in san francisco's effort to confiscate illegally docked scooters. they tell abc7 news it took 159 scooters off the street today on top of the more than 130 scooters picked up in the last

two weeks. the scooters were deployed throughout the city last month by lime bike spin and byrd. a controversial statue will remain in san francisco's civic center. the the board of appeals voted unanimously to overturn an arts commission decision to move the early days statue into storage. it shows a native american man at the feet of a conquering spanish cowboy and catholic missionary. opponents say it's racist and demeaning. the attorney who challenged the decision calls the statue part of history. >> and e. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce is growing. it is affecting 16 states including california. this map shows where more than 50 people have reported getting sick. abc7 news reporter katie marzullo talked with local consumers. >> i consume lettuce almost every day at home. >> reporter: raphael is growing concerned as he learns romaine could be lurking in his

refrigerator. >> maybe we can eat it again. >> reporter: 15 people in 16 states have been infected with e. coli after eating chopped romaine lettuce. five developed a type much kidney failure. at salad farm in san jose, lettuce is the lifeblood of the business. the owner said they take every precaution. >> we are very particular about the vendors we use and we want to make sure that each one that we do select has a background that we approve of. >> reporter: the e. coli has been linked to uma, arizona but not to a specific supplier or brand. emily has been skeptical of bagged salad awhile now. >> i was pregnant at the time and i didn't want to run the risk. i haven't bought it since then. >> reporter: the cdc said consumers should toss out chopped romaine lettuce or mixes that contain romaine. katie marzullo, abc7 news. >> now to the memo of james comey.

it details phone calls and meetings between the two men in the months leading up to mr. comey's firing. on one occasion, the president told comey he had serious reservations about his national security advisor michael flynn. flynn was fired a few days later. much of themation had already been revealed in comey's senate testimony and in his just released book. >> former new york city mayor rudy giuliani is joining president trump's legal team. he will help the president deal with special counsel robert mueller and help to push for an end to the russia probe. giuliani was a prominent supporter of the trump presidential bid and worked with mueller in the justice department. the previous lawyer leading the president's team resigned last month. >> the wife of one of the men charged in the deadly ghost ship fire says convicting her husband wouldn't be justice. >> derek almena's wife sits down with abc7 news i-team telling dan noyes she wants to set the record straight about what happened that night more than a year ago. >> i'm meteorologist sandhya patel. get ready for the kind of warmth

that just may give you spring fever. i'll have the weekend preview coming right up. >> and times are changing in saudi arabia. up next, a look inside the country's first movie theater to open after a 35-year ban. >> all that's ahead. first here's a look at what's coming up tonight on jimmy kimmel live right after abc7 news at 11:00. jimmy. >> thanks, dan and alma. this is ore most scandalous show yet. would you like a pillow? i don't know.

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i don't believe that this is justice. i don't think that this is going to make things better. >> she helped build the oakland

artists collective known as ghost ship. now her husband faces 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter for all those people who died in that fire. on the eve of an important hearing in the criminal case, micah alison has given an exclusive sit-down interview to the abc7 news i-team. >> that's right. dan noyes has been covering this tragedy since it happened a year and a half ago and he's here with the latest. dan? >> dan and alma, she spoke with me to counter the story that's been shared since the fire erupted. she was brutally honest about the challenges she and her three children face. i met micah alison at lake county this past saturday. it happened to be her husband derek almena's 48th birthday. he's being held in the oakland jail for involuntary manslaughter for each of the people who died in the ghost ship fire. he could receive a long sentence if convicted. >> 39 years is the rest of my husband's life. it means he'll never see his

children again out here. >> reporter: micah is doing her best to provide for their children ages 7, 9 and 14 after. she is an artist, she has her first full-time job as a social worker navigating cps. micah wakes every morning with the ghost ship on her mind. >> it was really interesting because that night i felt a strange urgency to leave and to just get my kids out. i don't know why. i just felt like i didn't want to be there. >> reporter: while the concert started touch-tone warehouse, micah took her kids to the hotel. about midnight they started getting calls saying fire. >> we so rarely left the space. yeah, the first time we leave and there is something wrong. >> reporter: finally one of derrick's trusted friends reached him. >> it's burning and everything is gone. >> reporter: derek posted a facebook message confirmed, everything i worked for is gone. as if i awoke with a dream from

op lance and now poverty and self-worth. that drew a wave of criticism in the days and weeks to come. micah explains when derek wrote that message she had no idea people were missing in the blaze or the ghost ship would become the nation's deadliest building fire in a decade. do you have any words for the families? >> all i can do is offer my utmost condolences to the families that have lost their loved ones. >> reporter: micah tells me the narrative that they had built a death trap filled to the brim with combustibles, a labrinth wasn't true. >> we were meticulous about making sure the space was clean. whenever we opened the doors for that kind of thing, and making sure the pathways were clear. >> reporter: she says after losing her children to cps, they stayed with family in southern california. the agency inspected the warehouse, concluding it was sitable for their kids and returned them seven months before the fire. >> the whole space had shifted into a much more family centered

place. >> reporter: she also says they tried repeatedly but failed to get the landlord to help upgrade the electrical system to address the frequent outages. >> several times, over and over again, trying to work out different ways we could even help get some of the work done so that it wouldn't be as expensive for them. >> reporter: public records show some police officers and firefighters saw conditions at the warehouse, but didn't raise concerns with city agencies. this is a police body camera video released by the city of oakland. >> we just had a transformer blow and we -- i mean, it's the same problems all over again. >> i do not think that it was derrick's fault for what happened that night. >> reporter: micah tells me it was a terrible tragic accident, not a crime. but she understands the families demanding someone be held accountable. >> and to talk directly to the mothers and fathers that lost their children, i don't know how to do that honestly. i don't know how to do that. i'm sorry.

>> reporter: lawyers for the families tell me they also want the landlord to be charged in the criminal case. i called and e-mailed the d.a.'s office about that. no word back at this point. derrick almena and a second man who lived at the ghost ship max harris are facing charges. they have a bail reduction tomorrow. of course abc7 will be there to report on the next step and a long and painful process especially for the families of those who died. dan and alma? >> no question, dan. thank you so much. now we have complete coverage of the ghost ship fire including all of our i-team reports dan has put together for us on our website, abc7news.com. >> for the first time in 35 years people can go to a movie theater in saudi arabia. the amc cinema riyadh is now open. the first film to be screened was "black panther." 40 seconds were censored to take out a kissing scene. all other films shown in the country will be viewed by government sensors first. it was band when saudi arabia adopted ultra conservative

islamic law. >> some progress there, a lot of smiling faces at the theater tonight. >> yes, nice outside. sandhya? >> yeah, and only getting nicer if you like warm weather, dan and alma. break out the sun screen for the next couple of days and the shades. you'll be needing them. take a look at our time maps from our kgo roof camera. some fair weather cumulus clouds. a great day for sailing today. a little breezy outside. tomorrow the winds will relax and those temperatures will rise. today was warmer, but still below average for this time of year. we're going to switch things up and push those numbers above normal for april standards. take a look at live doppler 7 now. while most of you are clear, not all of you are. half moon bay reporting visibility down to 6 miles where it is foggy and those temperatures right now look like this. we're basically looking at 40s and 50s across the bay area. comfortable weather. a live picture from our abc7 news exploratorium camera and you will notice patchy morning fog at the coast. sunny and even warmer in the afternoon with inland

temperatures in the mid-'80s this weekend. i do want do show you a drought update. so, abnormally dry for parts of our inland valleys. you will notice. but as you take a look at southern california, they're in worse shape, moderate to severe drought covering much of so cal. extreme drought in the far southern part of the state. unfortunately, there is no rain in the immediate future. maybe something late this month perhaps will show up. we are starting to close out that rainy season in just a few weeks. so, take a look at our hourly planner for tomorrow morning. some patchy fog. temperatures 40s, 50s. noontime bright skies and it will be milder for the afternoon hours. temperatures will come up into the mid 70s, even some upper 70s inland. a live look from the shark tank where it is a beautiful view tonight. visibility is good from this vantage point. watch out for the fog by the beaches and also grab an extra light layer. it is going to be cool enough. low 40s to low 50s to where you'll require it. for the afternoon mild weather,

mid to upper 70s inland along the coast line temperatures in the low to mid 60s and it's wall to wall of sunshine from coast to inland. you just may want to hit the beach and enjoy it. make sure you have your sun screen. uv index will be very high. temperatures will be in the 60s everywhere. santa cruz, you're getting up to 70 degrees. the ocean temperature 53 degrees. saturday, numbers about up go up even higher, 5 to 10 degrees above average. low to mid-'80s inland. 60s coast side earth day. temperatures will dip a little bit and on monday we'll hold on to the warmth, numbers will rise a few degrees. so basically we're going from below normal to above average warmth. accuweather seven-day forecast, warming continues for friday. saturday will be up into the mid-'80s inland, mid 60s coast. earth day looking nice. temperatures will start to slowly come down tuesday through thursday, but it's a slow down ward trend. you can download the accuweather app and check out the temperatures any time you want. really overall, i think it's going to be a good day to

barbecue at dan's house or hit the beach, alma. >> come on over. >> sounds good. thanks, sandhya. >> a big honor tonight for some distinguished bay area citizens including former secretary of defense and cia director leon panetta. >> tomorrow on "good morning america," more details on the memos by former fbi director james comey. detailing his interactions with president trump. gma starts at 7:00 a.m. we can now use a blood sample toh care,

target lung cancer more precisely. if we can do that, imagine what we can do for asthma. and if we can stop seizures in epilepsy patients with a small pacemaker for the brain, imagine what we can do for multiple sclerosis, even migraines. if we can use patients' genes to predict heart disease in their families, imagine what we can do for the conditions that affect us all. imagine what we can do for you.

we need to help more tocalifornians get ahead.d, that's why antonio villaraigosa brought both parties together to balance the state budget with record investments in public schools... and new career training programs. as mayor of la, he brought police and residents together to get illegal guns off the streets - and keep kids out of gangs, and on the right path. that's antonio villaraigosa. a governor for all of california.

♪ ♪ ♪ raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ♪ ♪ bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown paper packages tied up with strings ♪ ♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪ ♪ ♪ the commonwealth club of california honored several distinguished citizens at its annual gala tonight including former secretary of defense and cia director leon panetta and his wife sylvia. as a commonwealth club board member, ways honored to moderate a discussion with the panettas tonight on a wide range of topics including higher education, philanthropy and presidential politics.

and larry wanted to know if i asked if he had any government secrets for us. i was trying. >> spill something. give it up. >> give it up. leon, come on. >> no secret how this game was going to go with the warriors. they get the win. turned out to be painful, though, in san antonio. two more sprained ankles, including kevin durant going down. tell you how bad it is next

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abc sports brought to you by river rock casino. >> good evening. this might have been the least enjoyable game that steve kerr ever won as a coach. the warriors beat the spurs to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. no joy after the wife of spurs

coach popovich died. stepping in for pop, spurs inspired early. vintage tony parker there took the hit from draymond green. he managed to score 16 points. 41 in all green. hello, with authority down the lane. the bench loving that. warriors by two. former saint mary's star, patty mills free of his 14. the spurs hit only 7 of 33 from deep. they don't have the fire power. kevin durant plenty of fire power led the way with 26. knew the game was over right here with the warriors pulling away in the third. klay thompson know, back tap clay, reload, bang, he hit 19. a scary moment late in the fourth. durant rolls his left ankle. he goes down. sean livingston did the same thing minutes later. they limp off with a game three win, 110-97 dubs. here's mike shumann in san antonio. >> the spurs came out with a very spirited emotional first quarter, but they could not

sustain it. despite the fact that the warriors were missing from beyond the arc. but a win is a win and the warriors now up 3-0 in this series. >> we can't come out there and just expect to win against the spurs team no matter who is out on the floor. so, we had respect for them. we know they would fight to the end. hopefully we get the job done next game. >> i'm good. shouldn't have been playing around with the ball anyway so i blame that on myself. >> sean was probably a little worse than kevin's. both explained ankles, but i think they'll be all right. >> the warriors can close out the series against the spurs on sunday right here on abc7. reporting in san antonio, mike shumann, abc7 sports. >> all right, thank you, shu. new orleans pelicans also looking to go up 3-0 against the blazers. former warrior ian clark. 28 for a.d.. surprising, they're on a collision course with the warriors, up three games to none.

baseball giants searching for offense. continuing tonight with a little one looking on in the desert, second inning. taking out the belt. brandon belt his third homer of the season. this is a solo homer off zach. 1-0 giants. joe panik gets hold of one. chris was going to make the catch, but gets kneed in the face by a.j. pollack and had to leave the game. tie block goes six-inchinnings. that turned out to be the game winner to break a 1-1 tie. d-backs prevail. they're 13-5, giants fall to 7-11. the a's had the day off. abc sports brought to you by river rock casino. as shu mentioned, game four possible sweep by the warriors sunday 12:30 here on abc7. post game to follow. >> thanks, larry. >> abc7 news continues online on

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you have to ta >> all right. that is our report. we appreciate your time. i'm dan ashley. >> i'm alma daetz. for sandhya, larry, all of