Opinion ID: 199642
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facts Elicited from the Trial Testimony

Text: 2 On November 15, 1991, at approximately 11:15 in the evening, Paul Martin walked outside of his parents' house and saw that the unoccupied house at 171 Almira Road was heavily engulfed in smoke. He also heard crackling noises consistent with a fire. Martin returned to his parents' house, told his mother to call 911, and returned to the street. From this vantage point, Martin observed a man who was wearing what appeared to be a down, either red or orange, brightly-colored jacket. The unidentified man walked from the backyard of 171 Almira down the driveway to the edge of the road. When the sound of sirens was audible, the man walked back up the driveway in the direction from which he had come. 3 Within a few minutes, Detective Albert Witkowski and Officer Eugene Rooke, both members of the Springfield police department, arrived at the scene. They spoke with Martin, who told them that he had observed a man come from the backyard. Witkowski went to the backyard to investigate, where he saw a person in the rear corner of the yard wearing a red jacket and holding an object in his hand. Witkowski testified at trial that he identified himself as a police officer and asked the man if he could talk with him for a moment. In response, the man, later identified as Kibbe, ran. Witkowski gave chase and radioed for assistance. Officer Rooke, who had continued to interview Martin, responded to Witkowski's request and joined the chase. Rooke ran down Newfield Street, ordering Kibbe to stop, which allegedly only hastened his flight. The chase continued, terminating only after Kibbe fell in the wooded area in which he was running. Kibbe was wearing a red, heavy winter jacket and black gloves. He also had black soot marks on his nose and smelled of smoke. The officers recovered a flashlight and a small propane tank that Kibbe had dropped during his flight. 4 The officers advised Kibbe of his Miranda rights and asked him to return to the police cruiser. There, they placed him under arrest and told him that they would conduct a pat-down search on him for weapons. Hearing this, Kibbe voluntarily removed matches, paper towels, a pipe, and pipe tobacco from his pockets. The officers then had a brief conversation with Kibbe. Witkowski testified that Kibbe answered his questions and told him why he was in the area. 5 At trial, Kibbe took the stand and offered the following testimony. On the night in question, he attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting until approximately 9:00 p.m., and then took a bus home. Once he arrived at home, he immediately went out again to smoke his pipe, because he was not allowed to do so in the house. He walked all around the neighborhood and found a flashlight and propane tank in the woods. He then went into the backyard of 171 Almira Road because he needed to urinate. There, he noticed smoke coming from the back of the house. After several minutes, he walked to the front of the house and, upon hearing a siren, he turned around and walked into the backyard. He then got scared and ran away, allegedly because he was on parole. After he was apprehended by Rooke, Kibbe testified that the officers questioned me as to what I was doing, and that he answered them over and over again. 6 Kenneth Friberg, the arson investigator who was at the scene, also testified. Once the fire was extinguished and the smoke had cleared, Friberg entered the cellar at 171 Almira to determine the cause of the fire. There, he found an empty matchbook on top of a pile of lumber about twenty feet from the cellar door. There was also some paper and rubbish in the cellar. He could not identify what kind of paper it was due to its charred and sodden state. From these and other observations, Friberg concluded that the fire had been deliberately set by an open fire without the use of accelerants. He found paper towels just outside and to the left of the cellar door. 1 7