Tragedy Jury Fails to Indict
No evidence of criminal negligence was found by a special Campbell County, Ky., grand jury that investigated the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire that took 165 lives May 28, 1977. The grand jury noted in its report made last August 2 that the instances of negligence it uncovered were “not criminal in nature.”
While it criticized what it called a communications breakdown between state and local fire authorities, the jury said that the supper club management had made “every effort” to comply with local and state regulatory agency requests. The jury cited what “appeared to have been a frequent breakdown in communications between the various agencies and the management.” This didn’t prevent the management from complying with the requests, the jury report stated, but the resultant confusion had caused delays.
The grand jury also deplored the “prior comments made by various public officials,” including Kentucky Gov. Julian Carroll, immediately after the fire that there would be indictments.
