OAKLAND — The criminal trial of former Ghost Ship master tenant Derick Almena has been postponed yet again, to February, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Almena, 50, is charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of three dozen people who perished in the inferno at the East Oakland warehouse known as the Ghost Ship on Dec. 2, 2016.

In September 2019, a jury acquitted Almena’s co-defendant Max Harris, but could not reach a unanimous decision on Almena’s charges — voting 10-2 in favor of guilt. His retrial originally was scheduled to begin in April, but instead was delayed and reset for July, and then again for Oct. 1. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson had indicated in June if the coronavirus pandemic caused another continuance, a new trial date could be set for February 2021.

In a hearing last month, the judge indicated the new date would be Feb. 26 for the start of the trial. Jury selection is expected to begin March 8, according to court records. Both the prosecution and the defense are under a judge’s gag order to not speak publicly about the case.

Almena has been out of jail since May 4, after he posted $150,000 bail, and he is living in Lake County with his family. Judge Thompson agreed to lower his bail from $750,000 after his attorneys argued that he was vulnerable to contracting the COVID-19 virus inside Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Almena and former co-defendant Harris, who was dubbed “second in command” at the Ghost Ship by the prosecution, were arrested in June 2017 and each charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Almena was the master tenant who signed the lease in 2013 with the understanding with the owners that the Fruitvale district warehouse building would only be used as an art collective. Instead, he rented out the warehouse as a living space to others, the prosecution alleges, and allowed it to be filled to the brim with art, furniture, pianos and other items.

The warehouse also was used for dance parties and other gatherings, much like the one that was taking place on Dec. 2, 2016, when the fire broke out. The fire spread so quickly that most of those on the second floor where the event was being held, were trapped and unable to escape the flames and smoke. All 36 victims, one of whom was a tenant of the warehouse, died of smoke inhalation.

In July, the city of Oakland settled a civil lawsuit brought by 32 of the 36 victims’ family members for $32.7 million, with $23.5 million going to victim families and $9.2 million to Samuel Maxwell, who survived the fire but was badly injured.

PG&E, also named in the suit, settled in August, but the amount of the settlement was confidential. Attorneys are working toward a settlement with Chor Ng and her two children, the landlords who rented the warehouse to Almena.

According to court filings, lawyers for the victims’ families maintained that PG&E was negligent for failing to monitor the power distributed to the building. The utility, the lawyers alleged, had installed a smart meter above the Boost Mobile store on International Boulevard, a few doors down from the Ghost Ship. PG&E “knew or should have known” of the dangerous and defective nature of the electrical systems that posed an “imminent threat” to the inhabitants of the art collective and guests, according to the lawsuit.

From that single meter, a power connection ran from the phone store through an auto body shop and to the Ghost Ship warehouse through a hole cut in the wall. PG&E has previously said there were no reports of “electric theft or any other anomalies” at the Ghost Ship or neighboring buildings.

Though it appeared electric in nature, the exact cause of the fire was never determined.

Staff writer David DeBolt contributed to this story.