State v. Rogers

2006 WL 2716870 (2006)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

A fire was started inside the apartment of Rollins. Rollins testified that he lived in an apartment in Town View Towers, a four-story apartment building which housed approximately 900 tenants. His girlfriend, Norma Fish, was living with him. His girlfriend was also dating D. two and one-half weeks before the fire, news of this relationship resulted in a minor physical confrontation between D and Rollins. Without a doubt, D's passions were inflamed. Two and a half weeks later, a fire was started inside the apartment of Rollins. Rollins and his friends left his apartment to go to the store. On the way back Rollins received a call from a neighbor who said that a smoke smell was coming from his apartment. Rollins opened his door, smelled smoke and saw a big black spot on the floor. He doused the spot with water, sprayed the spot with potpourri, and placed a floor mat over the spot. Rollins called the apartment's management and asked them to investigate. An arson investigator showed Rollins a videotape. The videotape showed D removing a note off Rollins' door, lighting it on fire, and sliding it under the door. Kitts, an arson investigator, observed light smoke damage to the inside of the door and 'burn and melt in the carpet.' He took pictures as part of his investigation. The pictures depicted charring damage to a patch of the carpet. Kitts surmised that a piece of paper was set on fire and slid under the door thereby causing damage to the carpet. The carpet had to be replaced because the fire had burned the carpet down to the tile underneath. The carpet was not replaced until the middle of July because the damage was not severe enough to warrant immediate attention. Barry Rice, a private investigator, testified that he specialized in arson investigation. Rice stated that he purchased carpet similar to the carpet and he was unable to set the carpet on fire with a piece of paper though he conducted numerous burn tests. Rice attempted to replicate the burn damage on the carpet by sliding a burning piece of paper under a door and by laying the burning paper on the carpet. D admitted he took the paper sign off the door, lit it, and shoved it under the door. D knew that a lot of people lived in the apartment complex. The jury found the D guilty of aggravated arson. D appealed.