Opinion ID: 2600749
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Evidence of Previous Fires

Text: At the preliminary examination, the State had presented evidence of 16 previous fires with which the defendant was associated. The State was restricted to presenting evidence of four of those prior fires at trial. The first of the fires occurred in 1983. This was a fire in a shed located directly behind the house where Jenell was living at the time of her death. At the time of the fire, the defendant was married to Banning. Boorigie had moved his farm equipment into the shed and was in the process of wiring the shed with the help of another person. After working in the shed on the morning of the fire, Boorigie left the property, telling Banning he was going to town. Shortly after Boorigie left, Banning looked out the window and saw that the shed was on fire. As she picked up her daughter and started to leave the house, the telephone rang. Boorigie was the caller. He wanted to know if anything was wrong. The building and equipment in it were destroyed by the fire. The next fire occurred about 1 year after the shed fire. The defendant owned a lime truck used to spread lime on crop land. On the day of the fire, Boorigie, who had been working on the brakes of the truck, came into the house to tell his wife that he was going to his mother's house, which was 3 or 4 miles away. Boorigie did not take his daughters with him, which was unusual. Shortly after Boorigie left the house, he returned to tell his wife that they did not have to worry about the lime truck anymore because it had gone into the creek and that a fire had started around the lime truck after it went into the creek. Boorigie made an insurance claim for the damage to the truck. The third fire occurred in a hay barn on a ranch where Boorigie was farming a growing crop in 1992. The defendant appeared at the scene of the fire, saying he had seen the fire from U.S. Highway 75, which was about 2½ miles from the ranch. The owner of the ranch did not believe it was possible for the defendant to have seen the fire from the highway. A spraying rig belonging to the defendant was destroyed in the fire. Boorigie and the ranch owner negotiated a settlement for the destroyed sprayer. The final fire occurred in a wheat field the defendant was farming at the Mullendore Ranch in 1998. Boorigie claimed that he had harvested the field prior to the burning and claimed an insurance loss for poor yield. When the insurance investigator examined the field, he discovered that the field had been burned before it was harvested. Again, we note that a conviction is not a prerequisite to introduction of a prior offense under K.S.A. 60-455. State v. Myrick & Nelms, 228 Kan. 406, 420, 616 P.2d 1066 (1980). Admission of evidence under K.S.A. 60-455 to show plan may be upheld on the theory that the evidence, although unrelated to the crimes charged, shows the modus operandi or general method used by a defendant to perpetrate similar but totally unrelated crimes. State v. Tiffany, 267 Kan. 495, Syl. ¶ 3, 986 P.2d 1064 (1999). The evidence that Boorigie had previously been associated with mysterious fires supported an inference that Boorigie was familiar with the use of fire as a way of solving problems. The evidence of the prior fires was relevant to prove identity or plan, both disputed facts at trial, and the probative value of the evidence outweighed its potential prejudice. The trial judge did not abuse his discretion in admitting the evidence.