OAKLAND, Calif.—A jury on Sept. 5 acquitted one man of involuntary manslaughter but could not reach a verdict for the leader of an artists’ commune accused of turning a San Francisco Bay Area warehouse into a cluttered maze that trapped 36 partygoers during a fast-moving fire.
Sobs and gasps erupted from family and friends of the victims who have packed the courtroom for the emotional three-month trial. Relatives had objected to a plea agreement last year that would have put both men in prison for several years, saying the sentences were too lenient.
