California Supreme Court Rules Juveniles Playing With Firecrackers Can Be Guilty of Arson
The L.A. Times reports that the California Supreme Court has voted 5-2 in favor of upholding arson charges against two juveniles. The boys had set off a firecracker - a cherry bomb - in the Pasadena area foothills. A spark from the cherry bomb caused a fire in the Angeles National Forest, destroying five acres of brush.
If you have been charged with arson, it is important to speak with an experienced Los Angeles arson defense attorney at once to protect your rights and begin preparing your defense.
Here, in In re V.V., the case focused on the "intent" behind lighting the cherry bomb and the "intent" to cause a fire. Under California law, arson is defined as the act of willfully and maliciously setting fire to any structure, whether residential or commercial, forestland or property.
The juvenile court determined that although the teens did not mean to set a fire, they knew that lighting a cherry bomb might ignite one and as a result had the necessary intent to be found guilty of arson. The California Supreme Court agreed, finding that the teenagers were "willful and malicious" when they threw a firecracker onto a brush-covered hillside, and that because the act of lighting the firecracker was not accidental or unintentional, the boys were guilty of arson.
Although the dissent argued that the boys should have been convicted of recklessly causing a fire, a lesser charge, the majority was not swayed.
