PORTLAND, Maine — The owner of an apartment house in Portland where six tenants died is returning to court soon — but not Friday.
A court official says a pretrial conference for Gregory Nisbet originally scheduled for Friday has been pushed back to a later date. Nisbet has pleaded not guilty to six counts of manslaughter.
The fire early on Nov. 1, 2014, was the deadliest in Maine in 40 years.
Investigators say the fire started on the porch because of improperly disposed smoking materials. A lawsuit stemming from the fire alleges an exit was blocked.
Nisbet's lawyer says the landlord installed smoke detectors, but tenants disabled them. He has also said it may have been a code violation but didn't amount to gross negligence.