He Said "Arson" (Hehehe)
In recent months I've handled several juvenile arson cases, ranging from a bored 14-year-old igniting the tampon dispenser in the school bathroom to a couple of 17-year-old stoners burning down a house after watching Val Kilmer lip-synch "Light My Fire." Almost all of these kids were charged with arson and possession of an incendiary device (usually the cigarette lighter found on them).
I think I am beginning to understand why kids start fires, but I am a long way from figuring out how possession of an incendiary device can be charged as a separate offense to the arson when the "device" is merely a book of matches or a cigarette lighter.
An incendiary device is defined by statute (California Penal Code section 453) as "a device that is constructed or designed to start an incendiary fire by remote, delayed, or instant means, but no[t] [a] device commercially manufactured primarily for the purpose of illumination." (An "incendiary fire" is defined as "a fire that is deliberately ignited under circumstances in which a person knows that the fire should not be ignited"; an arson, essentially.)
If "devices" such as matches and cigarette lighters fall within the statutory definition, then shouldn't that make possession of an incendiary device a lesser included offense of arson?
Unless there's a way to start a fire without an incendiary device.
posted by brainmarket @ 11:15 PM
4 Comments:
Um, you can start a fire with your mind, duh.
Hi. I likes you and your blog. New post I demand, NEW POST!! This one didn't inspire the masses, dear.
Fire is pretty. Fire. Fire.
I had an arson case in which possession of an incendiary device was not charged and where the kids allegedly started the fire by turning on a gas stove burner, lighting a piece of paper on fire, and then transferring the fire to another place in the house. That's not possession of an incendiary device, right?
--Anon.
Anon: yes, the piece of paper. However, I think the statute is intended to cover only those devices designed or intended by the creator of the device (not just the user) to be used to light arson fires as opposed to regular fires or cigarettes or whateve. I believe there is a similar statute regarding forgery equipment which, these says, might include regular scanners and printers. Although, in the case of forgery, unlike arson, it might well be possible to commit a forgery without using ANY type of equipment (inocuous or otherwise).
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