Landlord acquitted of manslaughter in fire

PORTLAND (AP) — The owner of a building where six people were killed in a fire was acquitted Friday of manslaughter but was convicted of a code violation for converted attic rooms described by prosecutors as “death traps.”

Gregory Nisbet was found not guilty of the most serious charges of manslaughter, which carry a penalty of up to 30 years in prison. He also was acquitted of some lesser charges but was convicted for not having an adequate means of escape from third-floor rooms.

Prosecutors argued at trial that the screams of three victims trapped in the third floor indicated they were alive and would’ve survived if they had another way to escape. Those rooms were “death traps,” they told the judge, who presided over the non-jury trial.

The defense contended the state was trying to hold Nisbet to a higher standard by classifying the home as a boarding house.

In delivering the verdict, Justice Thomas Warren said Nisbet was not “blameless” for the deadly blaze but the evidence was insufficient to convict him of recklessly causing the deaths.