PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Lawyers in the criminal case stemming from a nightclub fire that killed 100 people have received a warning to watch what they say, but a Superior Court judge declined to impose a gag order.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch had sought a total ban on public discussion of the case, after the club owners complained Lynch’s public remarks had jeopardized their right to a fair trial.

Judge Francis Darigan denied the request Friday, but told lawyers on both sides that they need to adhere to the professional codes of conduct and watch what they say to the media.

The owners of The Station nightclub, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, are each charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the Feb. 20, 2003 fire at their West Warwick club. The brothers have pleaded innocent.

The fire at The Station started after a band’s pyrotechnics set ablaze foam that had been placed around the stage as soundproofing. In addition to those killed, the fire injured nearly 200 others. The band’s tour manager also faces involuntary manslaughter charges.

Darigan said he wants to ensure that the defendants get a fair trial despite “inordinate media attention” that the case has received.

The judge noted the exception he made Friday in allowing all news media cameras into the courtroom. He then issued a plea to reporters to be careful in what they choose to report, not wanting to taint potential jurors’ opinions.

Darigan warned that he will be monitoring everything the lawyers say publicly and said he reserved the right to issue a gag order in the future if the situation should warrant it.

Mike Healey, spokesman for the attorney general, said the office had no comment regarding the outcome of Friday’s hearing. Lynch did not attend the hearing because he was at a meeting of attorneys general in New Orleans, Healey said.

Jeffrey Pine, an attorney for Jeffrey Derderian, said he is pleased with the judge’s ruling. He had sought sanctions for Lynch, but none were issued.

“I think (the judge) handled it the way that we were really asking for in the sense that prior to today there wasn’t an official order requiring (the attorneys’) compliance with” the rule restricting public comment on cases, Pine said.

Edward C. Roy Jr., a federal public defender and former president of the Rhode Island Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the judge’s ruling shows the need to balance all parties’ rights to a fair trial.

Roy said the judge’s ruling essentially tells the defense and the prosecution “let’s knock off the nonsense and focus on the case.”

And David Yas, publisher of Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, said that the judge wouldn’t want to order a “blanket gag order because that’s a drastic step, especially in a case of such public interest.”

“Out of fairness to the victims, you don’t want all of it sorted out in silence,” Yas said.

A handful of victims’ family members attended the hearing, bringing photos of loved ones and wearing pins to show support.

Sarah Mancini of North Kingstown, whose son Keith, 34, was killed in the blaze, attended the hearing and said she’s in “perfect agreement” with the judge’s ruling. “Everybody needs to act humanely,” she said.

Mancini noted that she’s not certain the trial will be fair.

“This is Rhode Island, I wouldn’t bet on anything,” she said. “But I think we have a good legal system.”

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