While over 1,100 people partied at the E2 night club into the early morning of Feb. 17, 2003, they had no idea there were nearly 900 more of them than there should have been, according to Wednesday testimony in Cook County Criminal Court from a Chicago fire protection engineer.

"The exits were totally inadequate for the proposed occupancy," Robert Prendergast said, under questioning by Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Robert Egan. "In this case you had a ship that attempted to sail with a quarter of the lifeboats it should've had."

Prendergast, who has written two books on fire protection, took the witness stand on the seventh day of the bench trial of E2 operator Calvin Hollins Jr., manager Calvin "Nicky" Hollins III and promoter Marco Flores. Each defendant is charged with 63 counts of involuntary manslaughter arising from the 2003 tragedy that resulted in the deaths of 21 people.

Prendergast's numbers reflected the availability and width of the three exits. With adequate exits, he said the club could safely hold 1,040 patrons. Prosecutors claim two of the exits were locked or blocked the night of the incident.

Tom Breen, charged with the task of acquitting Hollins Jr., steered Prendergast's testimony toward the city's responsibility to provide owners of an establishment with occupancy limits, which his client claims not to have known.
Breen also tried to show the accidental nature of the event, deflecting blame from his client.

"There could've been a pileup on the front stairwell with only 240 people, right?" he asked.
"Conceivably," Prendergast answered.

Earlier Wednesday, the prosecution attempted to show the accepted pattern by which E2 and Envy Productions, Flores' party promotion company, operated and thrived on packed crowds. Proving reckless disregard for safety is essential to the prosecution's case.

Alexander Partida, Flores' business associate, described the longtime financial arrangement between the parties. Envy earned money collected from cover charges after fulfilling a $10,000 bar guarantee to E2 as well as various promotion and security fees. On top of the money paid by Envy, E2 kept the bar profits, he said.

Attorneys for Hollins Jr. and Hollins III tried to distance their clients from the financial workings of Envy. Attorneys for Flores attempted to show joint interest on the part of Envy and E2 in bringing patrons to the club.

On the night of the incident, Partida and two colleagues left the club through a back door after the stairwell panic. They saw fire trucks and ambulances at the front exit, but did not investigate, he said. On their way out, they stopped in Hollins III's office on the mezzanine level of the club. He was standing in his office holding a Doberman [Pinscher] on its leash, Partida said.

Partida took the money to Flores' house. He kept $1,000 intended for payment to security guards, but does not remember what happened to the money, he said.

The prosecution expects to continue calling witnesses on Thursday.