People v. Budish

Opinion

COMPTON, J.

Defendant John Michael Budish was charged in an information with unlawfully burning inhabited structures and property (Pen. Code, § 452, subd. (b)) and forest land (Pen. Code, § 452, subd. (c)). The People appeal from a superior court order setting aside the information after granting defendant’s motion pursuant to Penal Code section 995. We affirm.

Early in November of 1980, Roy Martinez and his partner, Adrian Ruiz, hired defendant to clear brush and to keep trespassers from their unimproved property located in a canyon in mountainous terrain.

Defendant and his girl friend, Danielle De Pas, lived in an. employer-furnished trailer on the property. The propane stove in the trailer lacked fuel and although the owners promised to remedy the lack, they failed to do so. Defendant and De Pas in order to heat water were forced to rely on a campfire made in a small stone fire ring on the premises.

The owners had cautioned defendant against lighting fires but were aware that defendant was using the fire ring and on at least one occasion they accepted hot coffee from defendant when they visited the property. A Los Angeles County sign prohibiting fires in the area was posted beside a road adjoining the property.

[1046]

On November 15, defendant made a campfire for his breakfast coffee, sometime between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. Defendant stated that after using the fire he extinguished it with sand.

The morning was clear and calm until shortly after 8 when a so-called Santa Ana wind arose. When the owners arrived at the trailer shortly after 9 o’clock, the wind was so strong that it several times overturned a portable outhouse. The wind ultimately reached speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour, and was described as the strongest Santa Ana wind experienced in years. Because of the terrain the surface winds swirled and eddied.

Shortly after 10 a.m., passers-by discovered a fire on the premises and alerted defendant. The wind caused the fire to spread over a wide area and frustrated attempts to contain it. Over 80 homes were lost or damaged in neighboring communities and over 6,000 acres, along with some structures, were consumed in the adjacent national forest.