In re J.H., B212635
Conviction of defendant-minor for arson after defendant and his friends lit a firecracker in a wooded area and caused a fire that burned five acres of forest land is affirmed but modified where: 1) the juvenile court misapplied the principles stated in Atkins and there was no evidence that the act that caused the fire was done with the requisite mental state, i.e., maliciously; and 2) the trial court should have found the minor guilty of the lesser included offense of unlawfully causing a fire.
Appellate Information
- Decided 12/03/2009
- Published 12/03/2009
Judges
Court
- California Court of Appeal
Counsel
- For Appellees:
- Holly Jackson, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant., Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Susan D. Martynec, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Robert M. Snider, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.