Opinion ID: 2131046
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: [4, 5] To prove the crime of arson, the state must show that the fire was caused by a criminal agency and that the defendant was responsible for the fire. State v. Kitowski, 44 Wis.2d 259, 261, 170 N.W.2d 703 (1969). Sec. 943.02 (1) (a), Stats. (1975). The record in this case shows that if the fire was started by a criminal agency, then the court could have found that there was a reasonable probability that Mr. Berby was the agent. But, there was competent evidence to support the trial court determination that the fire did not have an incendiary origin. The state's proof of criminal agency relied heavily on the testimony of investigator Jones that the fire started in the east storage room because the room and roof above it were severely damaged, that there was a low amount of combustible materials and an odor similar to paint thinner in the room and that the concrete floor had flaked. [8] The trial court might have differed with Jones' opinion for a number of reasons. The most serious flaw in Mr. Jones' reconstruction of the fire is the testimony concerning holes in the roof. His theory was based on the conclusion that the fire started in the east storage room and that there wasn't sufficient fuel to keep an accelerated fire going in that room. Mr. Jones identified the east storage room as the origin because, among other reasons, the roof was consumed above that room. Racine fireman, James Markusen opened a hole in the roof directly above the origin of the fire. He testified that this hole was over the southwest corner of the building. Mr. Jones testified that the holes in the roof above the east storage room were not in the southwest part of the roof. The attorney general argues that this discrepancy was an honest mistake by Markusen and that Jones' testimony is supported by fireman Prothero. Nevertheless, the Jones origin theory is also contradicted by Lt. Boehme who testified that three holes were opened on the roof. One hole was over the southeast corner where no fire was found. Lt. Boehme stated that two other hot spots were opened, one of which was directly over the fire. The hole over the fire was near a ventilator, the other was to the east of the first hole. One of these latter two holes was in the west central portion of the roof. If the hole near the ventilator was in the west central portion of the roof, that placed the origin of the fire in the west central portion of the building away from the east storage room. If the hole to the east of the ventilator was in the west central portion of the roof, that puts the hole near the ventilator, and the origin of the fire, even further to the west. Jones' opinion that the fire was a deliberate act was based on his conclusion that the fire started in the east storage room. That conclusion is contradicted by the testimony of Boehme and Markusen. That testimony was competent evidence for the judicial mind of the examining magistrate to act on in determining that the fire was not started by a criminal agency.