The Office of the District Attorney investigating the Berkeley balcony collapse and the company that constructed the apartment complex will return to court today following the failure to agree on how to preserve and examine the balcony and other evidence.
The Alameda County District Attorney, Nancy O'Malley, last week launched a criminal investigation into the tragedy on 6 June which resulted in the deaths of six students.
Seven others were seriously injured.
After the balcony collapsed, both it and the balcony underneath were removed for safety and for testing.
Last week, the DA confirmed that the collapsed balcony was in the possession of the Berkeley police department while the second balcony was under the protection of sheriff's from her department.
On Tuesday, lawyers for the construction company that built the Library Gardens development - Segue Construction- went to court in California seeking a temporary injunction to prevent the testing or examination of either balcony without their representative being present.
The judge ordered the company and the DA's office to try to reach a resolution.
In a statement released late last night, Segue Construction said that it had been informed that the DA's office was "no longer willing to work with Segue and its representatives to find a meaningful resolution to the evidence preservation issues".
It has said that it will go back to court today (Thursday) to seek to have its temporary restraining order made permanent because it believes that it or any other potential party "should be afforded the opportunity to view and document the evidence prior to any destructive testing or potential alterations by the District Attorney".
In the first investigation into the potential cause of the balcony collapse, the City of Berkeley local authority last week said that the wooden joists attaching the balcony deck to the building were severely dry-rotted.
However it said that it had not carried out any forensic or laboratory testing on the joists.
