{"id":472,"date":"2012-07-26T20:18:17","date_gmt":"2012-07-26T20:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/?page_id=472"},"modified":"2023-05-24T18:13:24","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T18:13:24","slug":"arson-and-burning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/?page_id=472","title":{"rendered":"Arson"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>First Degree Arson<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CR20-051.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS20-051.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Burning a Dwelling House<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 502 (06\/20\/12)<\/li>\n<li>CR20-056.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS20-056.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Burning a Dwelling House With Accomplice<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 502 (06\/20\/12)<\/li>\n<li>CR20-061.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS20-061.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">All Options Under 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 502<\/a> (06\/20\/12)<\/li>\n<li>CR20-066.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS20-066.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">All Options Under 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 502 With Accomplice<\/a> (06\/20\/12)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Second Degree Arson<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CR20-101.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS20-101.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Burning a Building or Structure<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 503 (06\/20\/12)<\/li>\n<li>CR20-106.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS20-106.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Burning a Building or Structure With Accomplice<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 503 (06\/20\/12)<\/li>\n<li>CR20-111. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS20-111.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">All Options Under 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 503<\/a> (06\/20\/12)<\/li>\n<li>CR20-116.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS20-116.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">All Options Under 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 503 With Accomplice<\/a> (06\/20\/12)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Burning<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CR20-311.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS20-311.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Burning Personal Property to Defraud Insurer<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 506 (06\/20\/12)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Reporter&#8217;s Notes<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The act of arson is described under the statute in various ways, applying, for example, to someone who \u201cburns\u201d or \u201csets fire to\u201d or \u201ccauses [a structure] to be burned.\u201d\u00a0 The terms \u201cburn\u201d and \u201cset fire to\u201d are essentially synonymous.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">State v. Babcock<\/span>, 51Vt. 570, 576-77 (1879).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">An actual burning need not occur for the crime of attempted arson.\u00a0 <em>See<\/em> 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 509 (attempts); <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">State v. Dennin<\/span>, 32 Vt. 158 (1859).\u00a0 In one case where the defendant was found kneeling in the middle of the floor, matches in hand, together with a cone-shaped roll of newspaper, with a jar of paint thinner beside him and in the presence of a strong odor of gasoline, while the apartment was dark, and the striking of a match would have consummated the crime, this evidence supported a conviction for attempted arson.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">State v. Woodmansee<\/span>, 124 Vt. 387, 391 (1964).\u00a0 In another case, where the defendant had supplied flammable material, and disabled a sprinkler system which would have stopped the fire, the evidence sufficed to prove that he had participated in the planning of the illegal act, and had furthered the act.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">State v. Polidor<\/span>, 130 Vt. 34, 36 (1971).\u00a0 It is a crime to procure an attempted burning as well as an actual burning.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">State v. Ciocca<\/span>, 125Vt. 64 (1965).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The definition of \u201cstructure\u201d derives from the statutes on municipal and regional planning and development, 24 V.S.A. \u00a7 4303(11).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The word \u201cwillfully,\u201d as used in the statute, means intentionally and by design.\u00a0 While the Vermont Supreme Court has not explicitly defined \u201cmaliciously\u201d in the arson context, most courts recognize that to act \u201cmaliciously\u201d for purposes of committing arson means to act intentionally and without legal justification, and does not necessarily require personal hate or ill will. <em>See<\/em> 3 C. Torcia, Wharton\u2019s Criminal Law \u00a7 33:4 &amp; n.6 (16th ed. Sept. 2022 update) (\u201cThe burning must be \u2018malicious.\u2019 But, again, as a result of case-law development over the years, malice in a literal sense is not required; a defendant may act maliciously even though the defendant harbors no \u2018malevolence or ill-will\u2019 toward the owner or occupant.\u201d); 3 W. LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law \u00a7 21.3(e) (3d ed. Oct. 2022 update) (For common law arson, \u201c[t]here was not . . . any need to show \u2018malevolence or ill will\u2019\u201d); 5 Am. Jur. 2d Arson and Related Offenses \u00a7 7 (2d ed. Feb. 2023 update) (With arson, \u201cmalice is inferred from willfulness. . . . \u2018Malicious,\u2019 as in the requirement of a malicious burning as used in defining arson, is quite different from its literal meaning. It need not take the form of revenge or ill will.\u201d). Note, however, that in other contexts, the word \u201cmaliciously\u201d ordinarily has a darker meaning, and requires in addition a deliberate and evil intention.\u00a0 <em>See<\/em> <u>State v. Sylvester<\/u>, 112 Vt. 202, 206 (1941); <u>State v. Muzzy<\/u>, 87 Vt. 267, 268\u201369 (1913); <em>see also<\/em>, <em>e.g.<\/em>, CR28-171, -173, -175 (aggravated animal cruelty instructions). For an exhaustive analysis of how the statutory law of arson has developed in the United States, see J. Poulos,\u00a0<u>The Metamorphosis of the Law of Arson<\/u>, 51 Mo. L. Rev. 295, 405 (1986) (observing that, for the states with arson statutes similar to Vermont\u2019s, \u201cthe cases do hold, without exception, that an intentional burning of the\u00a0<em>property of another<\/em>\u00a0without justification or excuse is a malicious burning under these statutes. . . .\u00a0[T]he statutory phrase \u2018willfully and maliciously\u2019 should be interpreted in accordance with the common law.\u201d) (emphasis in original).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">After discussion, the committee has included the instruction on a presumption that a fire was the result of an accident or some natural cause, as long as it is balanced by the instruction that an intentional burning may be proven by circumstantial evidence.\u00a0 These two concepts are discussed together in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">State v. Bessette<\/span>, 129Vt. 87, 89-90 (1970).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201c[I]n order to prove the corpus delicti of arson it is not sufficient to show a burning, which may have been the result of an accident.\u00a0 It must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the burning was not accidental, but was wilfully and maliciously caused by some person who was morally responsible for his [or her] actions.\u201d\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">State v. Teitle<\/span>, 117 Vt. 190, 205 (1952).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First Degree Arson CR20-051.\u00a0 Burning a Dwelling House, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 502 (06\/20\/12) CR20-056.\u00a0 Burning a Dwelling House With Accomplice, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 502 (06\/20\/12) CR20-061.\u00a0 All Options Under 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 502 (06\/20\/12) CR20-066.\u00a0 All Options Under 13 V.S.A. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/?page_id=472\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":436,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-472","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=472"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1704,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/472\/revisions\/1704"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}