People v. Mentzer

Opinion

LOW, P. J.

Defendant William Steven Mentzer was charged with arson of a cemetery mausoleum (Pen. Code, § 451, subd. (c)); it was also alleged that defendant caused property damage in excess of $25,000 (Pen. Code, § 12022.6, subd. (a)). The court found defendant guilty of attempted arson (Pen. Code, § 455). Imposition of sentence was suspended and defendant was placed on five years probation with one year in the county jail. De

[484]

fendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction because the marble, plaster and concrete construction of the mausoleum could not be “burned” and “consumed” and therefore he cannot be guilty of attempted arson. We affirm.

On April 30, 1983, at approximately 3:30 p.m., defendant met a friend while walking through Tulocay Cemetery in Napa. After drinking six beers each within a one-half hour period, they entered the mausoleum where defendant’s friend took out a lighter and lit one of the couches. Defendant testified that “for some dumb reason,” he set fire to a couch too.

As a result of the fire, the damage to the mausoleum was assessed at approximately $65,000. The investigating officers testified that the damage consisted of burned couches, discoloration and “spawling” (buckling, cracking and chipping) of the marble floor and plaster walls of the mausoleum.

When the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a criminal conviction is challenged on appeal, “the court must review the whole record in the light most favorable to the judgment below to determine whether it discloses substantial evidence—that is, evidence which is reasonable, credible, and of solid value—such that a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

(People

v.

Johnson

(1980) 26 Cal.3d 557, 578 [162 Cal.Rptr. 431, 606 P.2d 738, 16 A.L.R.4th 1255].)

One investigating officer testified that the marble floor was destroyed by “spawling.” Spawling is the disintegration of marble and concrete by heat. The court inquired, “So, if you get enough heat, even marble will burn?” The response was, “Nothing [is] fireproof. There’s no fireproof material.”