>> derick almena and max harris who ran the ghost ship were each charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. one for each victim who died in the fire. >> the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charges against almena. the vote was 10-2 with jurors, two jurors voting for acquittal. the jury acquitted max harris on all counts. >> prosecutors had claimed the two knowingly let the warehouse become a death trap. the defense team said the fire could have been arson. >> live coverage beginning with laura anthony at the courthouse. laura? >> reporter: well, hi dan. this verdict was more than four months in the making. it came in just a matter of minutes this afternoon. this morning, it seemed like the jury might continue deliberating this new jury. day six of deliberations this morning. they did want to rehear testimony but then right before noon, we got word that there was a verdict. we can show y som vicky beringer, what it looked

like this afternoon in the courtroom. both defendants, of course, were there with their team of attorneys. there were 36 by my count, at least members of vic -- victims' family members seated on one side of the court. the media and other supporters of max harris especially on the other side of the court. at this point, the judge came in, indicated they had a verdict for max harris. that verdict was read. it tooks, by my count, 12 minutes to read through 36 different verdict sheets, one for each of the victims. we found that he was not guilty. then we learned that there was a split decision that derick almena, the jury was hung on his case. let's hear what the attorneys said after the verdicts. >> quite heroically put their lives on hold, worked diligently to come to a verdict and we are eternally grateful for the verdict they came to for max

harris. >> i wasn't going to make a statement because obviously i'm distressed. i've been up with my client and we've talked for about a half hour. and he is less distressed than i. what we both look forward to is the next trial and in the next trial we will do better. >> at this point, dan and kristen, there's no guarantee that there will be a next trial. that's up to the alameda county district attorney's office to try to assess what happened in this trial. again, we heard that the jury was 10-2 for conviction on derick almena. that count -- that decision will certainly weigh into the decision, be a factor as to whether prosecutors decide if they want to go ahead for another trial. there is a hearing on october 4th. i had a conversation with tony cera about the possibility of a

mistrial and his defense team moved for a mistrial but they were trying to cover their bases for a possible appeal in the case of the conviction. the fact that the jury came up hung, deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial was a bit of a surprise. we'll see what happens in the next several weeks. a hearing set for october 4th. live in oakland, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> laura, quickly. assuming there is another trial for almena, how soon might that begin? any sense there? >> reporter: from the discussions we've had with the attorneys prior to today's developments, it's my understanding that if the d.a. decides to have another trial, to try him againt could take months. it could not happen perhaps until next year. at this point, the civil case is set for next may. if there's another criminal trial, it could push all of that back. >> laura, thank you very much. now, let's check in with abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez. >> she's live from the

courthouse where prosecutors made a brief statement after the announcement of the verdict today. lyanne? >> reporter: we also talked to family members. i just want to say that i've heard people say here today that a new trial will not bring back those 36 people who died in that horrific fire. you know something, family members know that. they acknowledge that. let's put that aside for a moment, please. family members here are frustrated. they're mad. they're sad. i could go on. you know, one family member, one mother who lost her son said i just wanted some justice today. >> i'm just upset. my son and his girlfriend die and i've been here like almost every day for over five months. for the jury to come back with this, it's frustrating. there's no other word for me to say. i'm just upset right now. >> reporter: now, prosecutors

say they respected the verdict today's verdict. they thanked the members of the jury. they even said you know, we're grateful that they spent the time away from the their family members, away from work. but they reiterated that their hearts are with the families of those 36 victims. >> since the beginning of this case, our hearts have been with the families of the 36 victims that died in this unspeak ababl tragedy. that still remains our focus. >> reporter: you know that press conference today was very brief. they couldn't say much. they were very limited in what they could say. it is, again, very possible that they will retry that defendant, almena. but that's something that has not been decided. we asked them if that's a possibility. they, again, they couldn't move forward past that.

what they did say was that they will evaluate the facts of this trial and all the evidence that came out of this case and from there, they will move forward. back to you guys. >> everyone's reaction is understandable lyanne. was there any talk there with the prosecutors about offering the plea deal again? >> again, we asked that question as well. we tried as much as possible. they simply walked away. remember at the beginning of that press conference. before it even started. we wanted to warn everybody. we can only say -- only so much because there is a possibility of anything right now. it could be a plea bargain, a plea deal. it could be a retrial. so they don't want to jeopardize anything at this moment. >> makes sense. >> lyanne, thank you. a news crew went to oakland city hall to get reaction from the council about the verdict and reaction to calls from

defense lawyers that the city could have helped prevent this tragedy. >> city council is currently on recess. no one is available or was available to talk with us immediately. just in the past hour, oakland mayor libby schaaf released this statement. it reads, our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims today. i'm grateful for the professionalism and integrity displayed by all current and former city employees who participated in this trial. we send warmth and comfort to everyone in our community impacted by this tragedy. >> we want to continue our coverage for you. we'll turn to reporter melanie woodrow. >> melanie, you sfopoke with family members of the victims. >> reporter: i did. those family members have been slowly coming out and you can imagine, this is devastating and disappointing for them. they are saying they want someone to be held accountable. travis huff's mother says nothing will be more devastating than losing her son.

>> in all honesty, the worst day of my life was on december 2nd. it can't get any worse than that. it's just a lot of suffering after that. we continue to suffer. >> i don't blame the jurors. i do not blame them. they had a tough job to do. so many lies were told during the trial. they had to decide what was truth and not. but there were more lies than truth during the whole trial. so personally, i feel that it's because the city has so much to do with it that they couldn't find these two people guilty. that's my opinion. >> reporter: that was mikaela gregory's -- again, that was michaela gregory's dad speaking there just now. the families will come back on october 4th. this has been a very long journey for them and one that

was made even longer because of the length of the jury deliberations and, of course, that in part being because three jurors were let go. for the first time today, we found out why. tony cera, derick almena's attorney tells us that one of the jurors consulted with a fireman who was not a witness in this case. a fireman from a city he said he wasn't sure which one, but somebody not a witness in this case and asked for some feedback. the juror then shared that information with two other jurors. and that's why those three jurors were let go. also have one other brand new piece of information to share with you. that is a kre that larry beil was asking all of us here at 5:00 tonight. whether or not derick almena would consider a plea deal. i just got off the phone with his attorney, tony cera. i asked him that question and he said, no plea deal, no negoti e negotiating for derick almena. they'll be here on october 4th. live in oakland, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news.

>> wow. all right, melanie thank you for that information. no plea deal. max harris is set to be released from santa rita jail within the next few hours. here's a live picture from the jail. >> the sheriff's department says he'll have to be processed before he's released from there. that's max harris. derick almena will remain in custody for now. both have been in custody since their arrest. the first push alert went out about the verdict coming in at noon. we continued to send more alerts as more information came out. you can download the an so you're the first to know when major news breaks. coming up next, new clues from the dive boat fire. a crew member who survived talks about what he saw when he tried to go into the galley. the people who deliver food for companies like door dash held rallies today. what they're demanding. i'm meteorologist

if you are just joining us, a verdict finally in the ghost ship fire trial. >> a jury found max harris not guilty on all 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. the panel failed to reach a verdict on the same charges against master ghost ship warehouse -- master tenant derriick almena. deadlocking 10-2 in favor of guilt. the judge declared a mistrial. attorney david lim is live with a closer look at what happened today. david, thanks for coming on. first of all, your impression. are you surprised at all by what happened? >> well, you know, i've done 50 trials to verdict in my career and i've learned never to be surprised at what a jury is going to do. they're going to take the time to look at the evidence. deliberate and then reach a just verdict the way they see it. frankly, nothing surprises me. the acquittal caught me a little by surprise, but not shocking

based on the evidence that they heard. >> david, you're now in private practice and you're our legal analyst. at one point you worked on the ghost ship trial. i know what you're telling me is separate from your involvement with the trial. but as a prosecutor, how do you think the team has got to be feeling right now and looking at it, where would you say they might think, hey, maybe we fell short here based on what we heard from the jurors? >> yeah. i think the families are the ones that everybody's hearts go out to. i mean, they had to relive this trauma over and over again for the trial. i know that the prosecution team, even the defense team, everyone feels for these families that they had to live through this for a better part of four months and have to relive it again if the case is retried. there are no winners today. everybody has gone through the ringer on this case. there's a possibility that they have to go through it again. i think everybody just really feels for the family members and what they're going through. >> david, what does your gut tell you and your experience as

a prosecutor? will the district attorney retry this case against derick almena? >> well, you know a lot of factors have to go into whether they retry the case. i have to say that as who formerly worked on the case, i'm prohibited from talking about the inner workings of the case. what prosecutors do any time there's a mistrial based on a hang, they're going to closely examine all the testimony with a fine tooth comb. they're going to see which witnesses testified the way they thought they would. which portions were consistent. they'll try to talk to the jurors, if the jurors will consent to talk to them and try to really find out what was going on in that jury room to make a clear evaluation as to whether or not they want to move forward. they're going to take that information and in this case, they had 10 for guilty, 2 for not guilty. in a normal case, they would say we had 10. we only needed two more. that will of course weigh in the balance whether or not they want to retry it.

the other thing that's very possible, even though i know mr. cera mentioned to your reporters that there would be no plea bargaining or talks of a deal, that is clearly a possibility. if both sides decide to go back to the bargaining table and try to reich out, hammer out a compromise in the interest of justice, they can do that. but i know that the prosecution team will look very closely at all the evidence and how it was presented to the jury in deciding whether or not to go forward again. >> the fact that you didn't get or i should say the prosecution didn't get all 12 to say guilty to derick almena, how does that implicate where the culpability lies and how could that affect the civil trial coming up next year with the city named as a defendant in that case? >> i'm sorry. could you repeat the question? >> i'm wondering now today's decision and the fact they couldn't get the jury to say guilty on derick almena, how could that affect the civil trial coming up next year?

>> criminal trial has the highest burden of proof in our system. you have to get a unanimous jury to reach a verdict of guilty. in a civil trial, you only need to have nine of the 12 jurors reach a finding of culpability in order to reach a verdict in a civil trial. if this were a civil trial, derick almena would have been found guilty for the lives of 36 people. the rules are different. what they're going to present and the theory of the civil case is different from a criminal case. that's not to say the civil case is going to be a slam-dunk for the plaintiffs -- the victims' families. they will only need to find nine out of 12 jurors to go with them in order to find either max or derick liable in the civil matter. >> the most famous one is the o.j. simpson criminal and civil trial. >> exactly. in that case the jury was not acquitted simpson of the criminal case but in the civil

case was a much lower burden of proof. they prevailed and found him liable for the wrongful death of nicole brown simpson. >> david lim our legal analyst, former prosecutor. thank you for your insights. >> thanks david. thanks for having me. the owners of the california dive boat that caught fire have filed a suit in court if the to avoid liability. it it's a maritime law allowing them to limit liability. meantime, one of the crew members who survived the fire believes he knows how it started. he and four others jumped from the boat and were rescued by another boat. once aboard, he told the rescuer that the fire appeared to have started in the galley where cell phones and cameras were plugged in overnight. he tried to get down a ladder but flames had engulfed it. the cause of the fire which killed 34 people is now the subject of an intense

investigation by the national transportation safety board and several other agencies as well. of course, we will keep you updated as new information is released about the fire and the victims. just go to abc7news.com to see what we have learned so far and download the abc 7 news app for instant updates. san francisco prosecutors are investigating a shooting by sheriff's deputies. that sent a wanted man to the hospital and let the dog he was with dead. the sheriff's department says an aggressive dog confronted deputies. at least one deputy fired their gun. it remains unclear whether the suspect was shot or suffered another type of injury. that man is expected to recover, though. the dog died at the scene. today workers for food delivery apps rallying in san francisco saying that they need higher living wages. it doms as state legislators are considering a bill to reclassify hundreds of thousands of independent contractors as company employees which would

cover them under labor laws. kate larsen is on that story. >> shoppers and drivers for post mates, door dash and insta cart are rallying today saying their wages have been decreasing and not -- >> if i had to pay market rent, i would be homeless. >> they are personal shoppers and delivery drivers for insta cart, door dash, post mates and caviar. their soul source of income. they along with their 11-year-old daughter live in a menlo park backyard. >> we built a tiny house in the back of my grandmother's property. >> comparing four weeks of insta cart pay in 2016 versus 2019 it appears that her earnings went down on average $4 an hour. from $26.90 in 2016 to $22.90 in 2019. today she and other drivers are attempting to deliver peanuts because that's what they work for to the executives here.

door dash is rolling out a new pay model the end of the monday. >> they will earn more money from door dash and more money overall. >> can you say how much more as a percentage snoo. >> it will be a meaningful increase. >> they're working with lawmakers to improve income possibilities for workers n san francisco, kate larsen, abc 7 news. time to get to your accuweather forecast. suddenly it turned cooler today. >> it feels a little like fall. meteorologist sandhya patel is here. fall is not for a little while, is it? >> we have a few weeks to go and we're seeing signs of changes in the season already. wind gusting to 32 miles an hour out of west in san francisco. 24 in fairfield. those winds have changed. dropped our temperatures. compared to 24 hours ago, concord and fairfield, you are running 12 degrees cooler. so double digit drop in

temperatures. sthoes breezes. you might want a light jacket. it will remain up at 7:00 p.m. gusting to 21 miles an hour in fairfield. by tomorrow morning, the winds relax at 5:00 a.m. later on in the afternoon and evening, they'll pick up again. i don't think it will be as windy as it was today. it is right now. take a look from the roof camera. the trees are just blowing in the wind along the embarcadero. we have blue skies looking towards the bay. along the coastline, fog and low clouds starting to reform again from san francisco to the san mateo coast. still watching thunderstorms developing in the sierra and some areas south of us. we're going to continue to see that for a few more hours before things die down. temperatures right now. anywhere from the mid-60s to the upper 80s. it's really beautiful outside and pleasant. not too hot or cold. apparently we're having problems. emeryville camera, we're watching that marine layer looking towards suit row tower. marine layer expands. mild to warm tomorrow afternoon.

it's going to get windier and cooler on saturday, believe it ornot. the hour-by-hour forecast, 7:00 p.m. tonight, you see the low clouds along the coast pushing over the bay at 5:00 a.m. 8:00 a.m., this is generally where you find the gray skies. later on in the afternoon, other than a few patches of fog along the coast, the rest of you will see sunshine. tomorrow morning, numbers from the low 50s to 60s. we'll start out with low clouds and later on in the afternoon, it's going to be a nice day. a wide range of temperatures from 65 in half moon bay to 90 degrees in antioch. san rafael, 82. 87 in santa rosa. 68 san francisco. 75 in oakland. 82 in san jose and 86 in livermore. i do think the temperatures come up a few degrees tomorrow. want to quickly turn your attention to hurricane dorian. it's near cape fear. it is a category 2. remember it was a 3 last night. it has weakened. winds 100 miles per hour, sustained. but it's lashing out at the

carolinas. we'll continue to do -- it will continue to do this. storm surge, tornadoes. they've seen numerous tornadoes. 105 mile an hour winds later on tonight, category 2 as it gets very near parts of the carolinas and continues there. it will weaken over the open waters. by the time we're into the weekend, it's a category 1 as it moves over the ocean. morning gray and sunshine for your friday. windy and much cooler, low 80s inland on saturday. turning it around on sunday. really pleasant weather is headed your way for next week with near average to below average temperatures. >> thank you. lebron james would like to own it. his career, his busines and how he wants to own a little more. that story is next. that story is next. then at it's on. the ross fall fashion event has all the looks for way less... ...so your new outfit... whoa! ...can just keep getting better. yes! oh, yeah, you're getting that. or you can find that one dress...

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. lebron james throwing his support behind a bill allowing

college athletes to profit. james tweeted in support of sb 206 calling it a game changer. adding that athletes can responsibly get paid for what they do and the billions they create. the bill called the fair pay to play act would prohibit california colleges from taking away scholarships or eligibility from athletes who use their celebrity to make money. the bill has passed in the senate and is awaiting a vote in the assembly. sheriff's deputies say rescuing bears is actually becoming a regular duty while they patrol parts of the area along lake tahoe. one bear needed to be freed after getting trapped in this dumpster at north star california resort. you're looking at video from the sheriff. deputy don nef ins used a stepladder to climb to the top of the dumpster. he opened the hatch so that bear could escape. good thing this one was unharmed. sometimes they get really

coming up at 6:00, our continuing coverage of the ghost ship trial verdict. we'll be live at the jail where max harris is expected to balk out a free man after being acquitted today. we'll hear from the victims' families who are not happy. that's coming up at 6:00. ama, thanks very much. see you then. fnally, do you think you have what it takes to become the next "american idol"? >> warm up the pipes. they're having open auditions tomorrow in san jose. they're being held at the mcenery convention center. katy perry, luke bryan, lionel richie return for their third season together this spring here on abc 7. >> they're great judges. i have to say. >> you can go in front of them. >> i can't. because i'm past the age limit. >> darn it. >> >> we appreciate your time. i'm dan ashley. >> i'm kristen sze.

for all of us here, thank you so much for joining us. >> we'll see you again at 6:00. bye for now. tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. hurricane dorian pounding the coast right now. at least 20 reported tornadoes. tonight, the dramatic images. homes destroyed. trees and power lines down. and tonight, the death toll now climbing in the bahamas and the major new fear. ginger zee is standing by with the new track for the u.s. the major wildfire burning at this hour. out of control. the pictures coming in at this hour. flames now coming dangerously close to homes. and we'll show you. the american mom under arrest tonight, reportedly accused of trying to buy a 6-day-old baby online. surveillance allegedly showing her trying to sneak the newborn onto a plane in her carry-on. the national case. the missing mom last seen dropping off her children at school. after her husband was arrested,

tonight, his girlfriend under arrest.