A witness for the defense, handyman Troy Altieri, took the stand and told the jury that several Oakland firefighters who were inside the Ghost Ship warehouse took a tour from Derick Almena two years before the deadly fire, and even danced on the second floor.
Almena's friend Joe Rodriguez said he saw them too and that several returned the following day for a pig roast.
"They have categorically denied they went in," said Almena's attorney Tony Almena. "And we at the end of this case will have three witnesses who said not only did they go in, they took a tour and one occasion they were dancing." But Altieri also told the jury the front stairs of the warehouse were "rinky" and "makeshift," contrary to defense claims that they were stable and not the reason 36 people died the night of the fire.
Attorneys for Ghost Ship defendant Max Harris finished their case by putting an Oakland firefighter on the stand who attended a Christmas party at the warehouse two years before the December 2016 fire.