Opinion ID: 2355139
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Sufficient Evidence of Arson, First Degree

Text: Section 569.040.1 sets out the crime of arson, first degree: A person commits the crime of arson in the first degree when he knowingly damages a building or inhabitable structure, and when any person is then present or in near proximity thereto, by starting a fire or causing an explosion and thereby recklessly places such person in danger of death or serious physical injury. Sanchez asserts that there was insufficient evidence to prove the crime because there was insufficient evidence he knowingly disregarded an unjustifiable risk that he was placing nearby persons in danger of death or serious physical injury. He argues that the only people that he put in danger of death or serious physical injury were the police officers and firefighters who were on the scene and who respond to every fire. A directed verdict of acquittal is authorized only where there is insufficient evidence to support a guilty verdict. State v. Morovitz, 867 S.W.2d 506, 508 (Mo. banc 1993). In this case, Sanchez told a police negotiator, I poured gas all over the place; I'm going to torch it. Immediately thereafter the house caught on fire. The negotiator testified that he personally went to the houses on either side of Sanchez's home in order to evacuate the residents due to the possibility of gunshots and fire in the area. He testified that he felt the need to evacuate those houses because the siding on the house immediately adjacent to Sanchez's house was actually beginning to melt on the house and the officers were worried about the safety of those occupants. Other evidence proved that after setting the house on fire and emerging from the back porch, Sanchez pointed his gun at the police officers who were waiting to apprehend him. After one of the officers fired a shot at Sanchez and missed, Sanchez dropped his gun and lay down on the concrete in a pool of water that was forming from the fire hoses. The negotiator testified that at that time the water was probably six inches, eight inches deep from where he was all the way to the house and that it was like a torrential downpour of water flowing on their heads from the fire hoses. He went on to state that the power lines were right over their heads and they were burning, and the insulation was melting off. He thought the power lines were going to melt and fall into the water and electrocute people. A fire inspector testified that the siding on the home next door to Sanchez's had melted due to the fire Sanchez started. The inspector referenced several photographs showing the damage from radiant heat that was suffered by the residence next door. He noted that the house next door to Sanchez's had been in great danger of being set on fire and that once that siding has melted away and burned like that, it would not take very long for the rest of the wooden structure of the house to catch fire. He went on to reference the danger of electrocution from falling power lines as well as his belief that the fire put police officers, firefighters, and neighbors in danger of death or serious physical injury. The foregoing testimony is sufficient evidence from which the jury could have found that Sanchez knowingly set his own home on fire and recklessly placed numerous people in danger of death or serious physical injury. The trial court did not err in denying Sanchez's motion for judgment of acquittal and in sentencing Sanchez for the commission of arson, first degree.