California’s Arson Laws Penal Code Section 451 and 452

Arson Legal Definition

PEN 451/452 are the California statutes that prescribe arson. The laws prohibit the reckless, deliberate, or malicious burning of a structure, forest land, or property. Per PEN 451, it is unlawful to willfully or maliciously procure, counsel, burn, or aid another party to burn property or forest. Under this statute, the violation is filed as a felony because of the willful conduct.

An excellent example of arson is setting your house on fire to fraudulently obtain compensation from your insurance firm or setting someone’s business premises on fire to seek revenge.

You face arson charges under PEN 452 when you recklessly burn or cause another party to burn forest land, structures, or property.

You should know that burning under these two statutes does not necessarily mean property or land is destroyed. Even if the fire causes slight damage, you risk arson charges. When your reckless conduct causes a fire, you face misdemeanor charges.

An example of PEN 452 arson is when you go camping and start a fire to make some tea in an area with a warning sign forbidding fires. Unfortunately, a strong wind blows the fire, causing it to spread to the nearby bush, burning forest land. Under the circumstances, your conduct is reckless because you were aware setting a fire in the area increased the risk of a fire breaking, but you disregarded the risk. So, the prosecutor will charge you with a misdemeanor under PEN 452 because you did not burn the forest intentionally.

Apart from malicious and reckless types of arson, there is another type known as aggravated arson. It refers to burning a structure when someone else is inside. Besides, you could face charges when emergency personnel like law enforcement or a firefighter suffer injuries while investigating or stopping the fire you started. You risk an enhanced sentence for aggravated arson if:

• You cause fire to multiple buildings
• The fire injures multiple persons
• An emergency worker sustains injuries
• You utilized a device to accelerate the fire
• You have a criminal record for felony arson

Arson Elements

The critical aspects of arson are:

Malicious or Deliberate Conduct

Acting maliciously means engaging in wrongful conduct on purpose. Furthermore, maliciousness could mean engaging in unlawful conduct aimed at annoying, defrauding, or injuring another party. For instance, burning your home to fraudulently receive insurance benefits is malicious. Deliberate also means acting on purpose.

When prosecuting arson under PEN 451, the prosecutor should show the court your conduct had malice and was intentional.

However, when proving arson under PEN 452, the prosecutor is not required to prove malice or willfulness in your act. However, they should show that:

• You knew your behavior posed a substantial and unreasonable risk of fire
• You disregarded the risks
• Your actions differed or grossly departed from those of a sober individual under your circumstances.

You should know that recklessness differs from negligence under criminal law, as the evidentiary standard is higher. So, when you set a fire and unfortunately doze off when camping and the fire spread, you are not guilty of arson under PEN 452 because the fire was accidental and not caused by recklessness. Nevertheless, when you start the fire despite a notice warning against setting fires, the court will construe your actions as reckless, leading to a conviction.

Property Meaning

In arson cases, property refers to clothing, trash, appliances, documents, and photographs. It also relates to land but not forest land. Burning your property is legal unless someone obtains physical harm in the process or you do it to defraud your insurer.

Structure Meaning

In arson laws, a structure means your home, vehicle, commercial premises, bridges, public tents, or power plants. If it is a major aspect of a building, any damage caused to a fixture due to fire falls under the structure category.

Forest Land Meaning

Forest land refers to bushes, forests, grasslands, and woods.

Setting Fire Meaning

You burn or start fire to a structure or property by using fire to cause destruction. You risk arson charges even if the fire only causes minor damage. Even a wood charring alone is enough to attract PEN 451 violation charges.

Arson Penalties

The punishment you will face when you plead guilty or the court convicts you of arson depends on several factors, including:

• Whether the violation is under PEN 451 or Pen 452
• The nature of the property or structure set on fire
• Whether people sustained bodily injuries from the fire
• Your criminal history

The penalties for a PEN 451 violation differ from those of PEN 452. Discussed further are the penalties you should expect for arson:

1. PC 451 Violation Penalties

Arson in PC 451 of California statutes is a felony, and the penalties include:

• Prison incarceration of 60, 84, or 108 months for arson causing great bodily harm
• 36, 60, or 96 months of prison incarceration for burning property or structures where people live
• 24, 48, or 72 months of imprisonment for maliciously burning forest land
• Sixteen, twenty-four, or thirty-six months of imprisonment for maliciously burning a property

Regarding monetary court fines, arson under this statute attracts no more than $10,000 in court financial fines. When you burn your property to obtain insurance benefits fraudulently, the court will fine you at most $50,000 or twice the amount you expected to receive from the insurance company for losses and property damages.

2. PEN 452 Violation Penalties

Reckless arson is a wobbler, allowing the prosecutor to file the violation as a misdemeanor or felony. The preferred charge hinges on your case’s circumstances. When reckless burning results in substantial bodily harm as prescribed in PC 452(a), you risk:

• 24, 36, or 48 months of prison incarceration for a felony conviction
• At most, twelve months of jail incarceration for a misdemeanor guilty verdict

The penalties for reckless burning of a property or building that is occupied are prescribed under PEN 452(b) and include:

• 24, 36, or 48 months of imprisonment for a felony guilty verdict
• No more than twelve months of incarceration

The penalties for recklessly burning forest land are provided under Section C, and they include:

• Sixteen, twenty-four, or thirty-six months of imprisonment for a felony sentence
• No more than half a year of jail incarceration for a misdemeanor conviction

Recklessly burning property in Section D is a misdemeanor.

3. Aggravated Assault Penalties

PC 451.5 prohibits aggravated arson. When the court convicts you of the offense, you risk at least 120 months of prison incarceration.

Other Consequences of an Arson Conviction

Apart from the above legal penalties, other ramifications of a guilty verdict are:

Addition of a Strike on your Record

Arson causing substantial bodily injuries or one that happens in an occupied building are strikeable because they are violent crimes listed under PEN 667. Therefore, when the court finds you guilty of violating any of these subsections, the court will add a strike to your criminal history.

The earned strike will reflect on your records if you are a first-time offender, although this will not change the sentence already in place.

However, if you are a repeat offender and earn a second strike, the court will double the initial sentence imposed for the present arson charge. Therefore, with a prior strike, an additional one for arson will result in doubling your penalties. A third strike from an arson conviction will result in a sentence enhancement of 25 years to life in prison.

Obligation to Register as an Arson Offender

According to PEN 457.1, any individual found guilty in PC 451 for aggravated arson, possession, production, or disposal of flammable or ignitable material linked to arson or attempted malicious arson should enlist as an arson offender, the same way sex offenders register with the Megan’s Law site.

The registration duration hinges on your age during the offense if you committed the crime while under eighteen. The law requires you to register as an arson offender until you turn 25 or after sealing your juvenile delinquency records under Welfare and Institution Code (WIC) 781.

The obligation to register as an arson offender is life-changing, resulting in severe adverse consequences. You want to avoid these ramifications because they will haunt you for the rest of your life. The best way to avoid the consequences is to speak to an experienced attorney for a violent offense to defend you and ensure a favorable outcome. At the Law Offices of Anna R. Yum, we will compel the court to lower the charges from malicious arson to reckless burning to help you avoid the obligation to enlist as an arson offender.

Immigration Consequences

Arson is a crime of moral turpitude. Therefore, if you are an alien, a guilty verdict will lead to deportation once you finish your sentence.

Fighting Arson Charges

Crafting legal defenses for arson charges is a complex task. Nevertheless, when you face the charges, you must partner with an experienced criminal attorney with knowledge of cases like yours. A competent attorney will poke holes in the evidence against you to compel the court to reduce or dismiss your charges. The defenses your attorney will use are:

1. The Fire Was Accidental

To be convicted of arson, the DA must show your actions were purposeful and malicious. Therefore, you can contest the accusations by arguing that you did not set the fire on purpose or maliciously. The prosecutor usually has difficulty proving your actions were deliberate because they cannot access your thoughts at the time. Therefore, they rely on circumstantial evidence, which is easy to challenge.

If the prosecutor cannot show your actions were deliberate, your attorney will argue the fire was accidental and that your conduct lacked purposefulness. However, unintentional burning will not work if you were impaired by alcohol or drugs when the fire started. You must submit evidence to show the fire was unintended. The proof you can submit to back your proof includes eyewitnesses, audio records, and video surveillance.

2. Arson Was Not the Source of the Fire

You can also fight the accusation by asserting that another factor other than arson caused the fire. You can argue that a wildfire was caused by lightning or foul weather, old or defective wiring, smoking, or hearing devices.

You will need fire and reconstruction experts to review the scene and paint a picture that the fire was due to other factors and that you did not deliberately start it. If the testimony by the expert witnesses is compelling, the court will drop the charges against you.

3. You Did Not Intend to Defraud

When the charges allege that you started the fire to receive compensation from your insurance company, you can claim that you erred in judgment leading to the fire and did not intentionally start the fire to claim insurance benefits fraudulently. When presenting your arguments, you should have a fire expert testify that something else, but not arson, was the source of the fire. In no way should seeking compensation for the fire be construed as intentional burning to defraud the insurer.

4. Insufficient Proof

Many arson charges hinge on circumstantial proof. Usually, there are no witnesses or proof the fire was intentional. The typical substantial evidence the prosecutor relies on includes:

• A statement from a witness claiming they saw you leave the arson scene before the fire
• Allegations of acting in vengeance after unjust termination
• Being found in possession of a gasoline container or other devices used to start fires
• A search history showing you were researching ways of starting fires before the fire incident

Typically, the prosecutor will not have proof you started the fire, allowing your attorney to poke holes in the circumstantial evidence and put doubt in the jury’s minds about your guilt. That way, the prosecutor will not meet the evidentiary standard of beyond moral certainty, leading to a not-guilty verdict. An attorney will argue that some evidence was obtained unlawfully and, therefore, inadmissible in court. If the court dismisses some of the evidence, they are left with insufficient evidence that cannot help them secure a guilty verdict.

5. Mistaken Identity

Misidentification is another reason people face charges and wrongful convictions for arson. The misidentification could be because:

• Your clothes, vehicle, or physical buildup resemble those of the arsonist
• The actual perpetrator points fingers at you to avoid the blame
• Presents of your personal belongings at the arson scene
• An assumption that you are liable

Arson charges are taken seriously, and police can be under a lot of pressure to make arrests. Due to the pressure, police can wrongfully arrest and charge you with arson. Under the circumstances, your attorney must gather evidence, including video footage that shows you were elsewhere when the crime happened or that you were never at the scene, making it impossible for you to have started the fire. The court will drop the case if you prove you were misidentified, leading to the charges.

Similarly, you can use an alibi to contest charges based on a mistaken identity. You use the term alibi to prove that you were elsewhere, contrary to what the prosecutor alleges. Witnesses can testify that you were in a different location when the arson happened, and the court will drop the charges.

Related Offenses

Several crimes are charged alongside or in place of arson. These offenses are:

California Vandalism

Per PEN 594, it is unlawful to maliciously or purposely deface someone else’s property with markings or otherwise destroy or damage property. The prosecutor can charge you with vandalism alongside arson for causing property destruction using fire.

The penalties for vandalism depend on the value of the damages or destruction and your criminal past. When the damages are no less than $400, you attract felony counts whose guilty verdict attracts:

• 16, 24, or 36 months of imprisonment
• Jail incarceration for at most twelve months
• At most $10,000 in court fines where property damage does not exceed $10,000
• No more than $50,000 in court fines for property destruction exceeding $10,000

You could also face incarceration and penalty payments based on the nature of the case.

If the dollar value of the damages is at most $400, the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by at most twelve months of incarceration, court financial fines of at most $1,000, or both fines and jail term.

California Trespassing

Per PEN 602, trespass is the unlawful entering and staying on someone’s property without their approval. Trespass is filed alongside arson when you enter someone’s property without authorization and maliciously start a fire while inside.

Several acts amount to trespass, including:

• Deliberate entry into someone’s property to cause destruction
• Declining security screening in court or airport
• Purposely entering a commercial property to disrupt normal operations
• Illegal occupation of someone’s property
• Refuse to exit the land after request to do so

Typically, trespass is charged as a misdemeanor. However, it could also be filed as an infraction when you unlawfully enter a person’s land without a fence or signpost warning against trespass.

A conviction for an infraction of trespass does not attract jail time. However, you will pay $75 in court fines for a first offense and $250 for a second violation.

In contrast, a misdemeanor guilty verdict carries a maximum sentence of half a year in jail and $1,000 in court fines.

Sometimes, trespassing can be filed as a felony if, after trespassing, you threaten to cause severe injuries, causing the target to fear for their safety or access someone’s workplace or home to act on your threats within 30 days of the threats. Your threats should be tenable and actionable.

California First-Degree Murder

Per PEN 189, first-degree murder is the predetermined or purposeful killing of someone. You attract these charges when:

• You utilize poison, mass destruction weapons, or explosives to cause death
• You tortured the victim to death
• You were commissioning a felony like arson when someone lost their life

You can face PEN 189 violation charges alongside arson charges when you maliciously burn an inhabited structure, resulting in the death of a person or persons.

First-degree homicide requires that you act in malice aforethought, meaning that during the incident, you planned on ending life or engaging in conduct that could endanger life. Malice can either be expressed, meaning you have the specific will to end life, or implied, where you purposely participate in an act that threatens human life.

Therefore, when charged with first-degree homicide alongside arson, the prosecutor should demonstrate you purposely started a fire to kill or with conscious disregard for human life.

A conviction for a PEN 187 violation attracts twenty-five years to life incarceration or life incarceration without parole.

With the severe consequences of a conviction for arson or related offenses, you should consider partnering with an attorney immediately after you learn of an ongoing investigation to prevent a guilty verdict.

Arson Investigations

The San Diego County Fire Department conducts investigations when an alleged arson incident happens. However, state and private entities could be used in the inquiry if insurance fraud allegations exist. These entities are:

• The fire marshal
• Bomb unit
• Justice department
• District attorney
• California arson conference

If the investigation shows the fire was malicious, you will face felony charges. Reckless burning attracts misdemeanor charges.