People v. Atkins

18 P.3d 660 (2001)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D told his friends that he hated Orville Figgs and was going to burn down Figgs' house. D and his brother drove by Figgs's home the next day and D 'flipped the bird' at Figgs as they passed by. Later that day, around 5:00 p.m., a neighbor saw the brother drive a white pickup truck into the canyon, but could not tell if he had a passenger. Around 9:00 p.m., the same neighbor saw the pickup truck drive out of the canyon at a high rate of speed. A half-hour later, a fire was reported. Shortly after 10:00 p.m., Figgs was awakened by a neighbor. Because the fire was rapidly approaching his house, Figgs set up a fire line. The fire came within 150 feet of his house. At around 9:30 p.m., one of D's friends saw D at his brother's apartment. He was angrily throwing things around. When asked if D was heavily intoxicated, the friend replied, 'Yes. Agitated, very agitated.' The fire could not be controlled for three days and burned an area from 2.5 to 2.8 miles long. The fire Marshall traced the origin of the fire to an approximately 10-foot square area that was completely burned and smelled of 'chainsaw mix,' a combination of oil and gasoline. Soil tested positive for gasoline. About 40 feet away, the Marshall found D's wallet, which was near a recently opened beer can, and tire tracks. He also found a disposable lighter nearby and two more beer cans in other parts of the canyon. All the cans had the same expiration date. D spoke with the fire Marshall and said that he and his brother had spent much of the day drinking. They then drove in his brother's white pickup to the canyon, where they drank some more and stayed between three and one-half to five hours. D said he pulled out the weeds, placed them in a small pile in a cleared area, retrieved a plastic gasoline jug from the truck, and from the jug poured 'chainsaw mix' on the pile of weeds. D lit the pile of weeds with a disposable lighter. The fire quickly spread to the jug and got out of hand. They tried to put the fire out, panicked and fled while the jug was still burning. D meant no harm and claimed the fire was an accident but admitted that he and his family had hard feelings with the Figgs family. The Marshall testified that the fire had not been started in a cleared area, there was no evidence that the fire started accidentally during a debris burn or that someone had tried to put it out. The Marshall opined that the fire was intentionally set. D was charged with arson of forest land. The trial court instructed on arson, on the lesser offenses of arson to property, unlawfully causing a fire of forest land and unlawfully causing a fire of property. The court described arson and all lesser offenses as general intent crimes and further instructed that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to arson and the lesser crimes and does not relieve D of responsibility for the crime. The jury found D guilty. D appealed. The appeals court held that the mens rea for arson is the intent to set fire to or burn or cause to be burned forest land, a specific mental state, as to which voluntary intoxication evidence is admissible. The court reversed because the instruction that voluntary intoxication was not a defense to arson 'denied D the opportunity to prove he lacked the required mental state.' P appealed.