GREAT WHITE Form Legal Defense Fund

May 16, 2003

GREAT WHITE, the rock band whose pyrotechnics are believed to have sparked a deadly nightclub fire in West Warwick, have created a trust to help pay their legal bills, according to the Associated Press.

"This is a fund that's just set up in response to the many, many fans and other bands that said, 'Hey, we'd like to help the victims, but we'd also like to help you guys,'" said Ed McPherson, the band's Los Angeles-based attorney.

The band also are planning a tour to raise funds for victims and survivors of the Feb. 20 fire at The Station nightclub. McPherson said no money from the tour would go toward defense costs.

The fire at nightclub killed 100 people and injured nearly 200 others. The blaze was sparked by the band's pyrotechnic display and quickly spread through the wooden building.

The fund, created recently, is being managed by the band's Encino, Calif.-based business manager Margaret Robley. She would not answer questions about its logistics.

Members of the band have been named in at least two lawsuits filed on behalf of fire survivors and victims' families. A criminal investigation also is under way.

News of the trust outraged Ronald Resmini, an attorney who filed one of the lawsuits naming band members as defendants: "I don't know how anybody could show allegiance to GREAT WHITE when they set off the pyrotechnics."

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