Gag order to be sought in lawsuit

An attorney representing the families of Charleston firefighters killed in the 2007 Sofa Super Store blaze plans to appear in court Thursday, asking a judge to issue a gag order in the case.

The request comes after Charleston attorney Andy Savage, who was hired by store owner Herb Goldstein to advise him in the criminal investigation, went on WTMA-AM this month to talk about the fire.

Kevin Dean, an attorney representing some of the firefighters' families in a civil suit against the store, has filed a motion asking the court to prevent the spread of depositions to those not serving as lawyers in the case and to prohibit lawyers outside the case, such as Savage, from commenting publicly about it.

Circuit Judge R. Markley Dennis is expected to consider the motion Thursday morning.

Dean said the motion was not filed as an attempt to silence anyone, but to protect the integrity of the judicial process.

"I think everyone will agree that it should be unfair for the Sofa Super Store attorneys to put their defense out over a one-hour interview ... without the plaintiffs' ability to counter those positions," Dean said.

His motion said, "Mr. Savage's one-sided, public diatribe was fundamentally improper and a transparent ploy to bias the local jury pool."

Savage said he was surprised by the attempt to silence him. He said he offered nothing during the interview that hadn't already been said, and

that his comments were supported by the voluminous report on the fire prepared by the city's own experts.

Former Shreveport, La. Fire Chief Gordon Routley headed the panel of consultants that conducted the city-sponsored probe.

"Everything I said was in the Routley report," he said. "There was nothing new there at all."

Savage said he was only responding to questions about attempts to add the city of Charleston as a defendant in the civil lawsuit filed by the fallen firefighters' families against the Sofa Super Store, the Goldstein family and others.

The families' attorneys are trying to block that move. Some families said they don't want to go after the city because officials already have made improvements to the Fire Department and corrected deficiencies.

The city is immune from paying damages in such a case, but adding the city as a defendant and allowing a jury to potentially assign the city blame for the deaths could reduce any award the remaining defendants might have to pay.

The debate over the city's conduct has further split some families who already were estranged. Some relatives of the fallen are involved in the civil lawsuits; others are not, and not everyone agrees how to proceed.

The brother and parents of Capt. Louis Mulkey, for example, are not party to the suits, but they are among those pushing for a state investigation into whether fire commanders should be held criminally negligent for their actions on June 18, 2007.

Mulkey's wife, Lauren, on the other hand, doesn't support that position and is among those involved in the civil litigation who don't want the city dragged in as a defendant.

During the radio interview, Savage pointed to myriad problems with the fire response that night, from faulty equipment to poor command decisions that sent firefighters into the massive store without water, adequate training or any clear plan for getting out.

The tragedy was the culmination of years of problems within the Fire Department, he said. "It wasn't something that just came to pass that night."

Savage said Mayor Joe Riley repeatedly has placed the blame for the fire on the shoulders of Goldstein, but refused to consider the city's own culpability.

"They can go out and call Goldstein a murderer, but they can't accept responsibility for the things they did," Savage said. "Everyone has been running their mouths for three years on this, but when I point out some things involving public safety and the Fire Department, everyone starts squealing."

Sandy Senn, an attorney representing the city in the lawsuit, said only that the city anticipates the pending issues will be addressed in a proper courtroom setting Thursday.

However, Dean said he has been trying for more than two years to take testimony from Sofa Super Store owners with no luck. "That's all I want. I want an opportunity to take the Sofa Super Store's deposition and counter the assertions," he said. "Hour-long interviews are not the place to air out facts that should be aired in a courtroom."

Comments by Savage also helped spark a gag order in the Kate Waring investigation last year, when he faulted Charleston police's handling of the missing-persons case that later a became a murder probe.

Savage said it seems like authorities are trying to shut down examination and critiques of public safety concerns.

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or rbehre@postandcourier.com. Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.