Arson
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Arson
Arson is defined by the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996, as "the act or crime of willfully, wrongfully, and unjustifiably setting property on fire often for the purpose of committing fraud (as on an insurance company)."(Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law) U.S. Fire Administrator Carrye Brown said, "Arson is not a hidden crime. It's murder by fire, a violent crime against property and people. Every year arson kills 700 people, destroys 100,000 buildings and costs more than $1.4 billion." Juveniles are responsible for about 55% of all arson arrests in the United States. Arson is often not viewed as a serious crime in the criminal justice system. Therefore it is one of the most difficult crimes to successfully prosecute (Slawiak).
What is arson? Many have some idea as to what this behavior is, but may not know the full meaning. Arson, according to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, states that arson is a “crime commonly defined by statute as the willful or malicious damage or destruction of property by means of fire or explosion” (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9009651/arson). Arson is also referred to as “fireraising” in Scots law and is defined as “the crime of setting a fire for an unlawful or improper purpose” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arson). This definition has recently been expanded to include the wrongful burning of private as well as public property. Arson is also included under a list of crimes against property. Included in this list are crimes such as embezzlement, forgery, and theft. (See Theft, Embezzlement, and Forgery )
A Few Facts About Arson in America
- Arson is the second leading cause of residential fire deaths.
- Arson accounts for about 25% of all fires in the United States.
- Arson is the leading cause of monetary loses from fire.
- 1/5 of all property loss is due to arson.
- Arson claims hundreds of lives every year.
Numerous cases of arson occur each year. The number of cases has declined in recent years, but the lives and millions of dollars lost each year are incredibly high. The United States Fire Administration compiled a report that charted the number of fires, deaths, and direct dollar loss dating back to 1997. 1997 had the highest amount of fires totaling 78,500 while 2006 had 31,000. While the decrease in fires has been shown, there are still thousands upon thousands of fires occurring. The death tolls have fluctuated over the years being as high as 470 in 1998 to as low as 305 in 2003 and 2006. In 2006 alone there were 31,000 set fires, 305 deaths, and $755 million lost directly. (http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/arson/)
Proving Arson
In most states, the civil arson defense consists of three elements. The insurer must prove: the insured had a motive to commit the arson; the insured (or someone under his control) had an opportunity to commit the arson; and the fire was incendiary or intentionally set. It is quit easy to say that these things happened, but they are very hard to prove. Because these facts can be so difficult to prove, the law allows them to be demonstrated by circumstantial evidence. The law always allows for circumstantial evidence in a trial, of course, but in arson cases a greater dependency on circumstantial evidence is often tolerated because of the secretive nature of the act. An eyewitness would be direct evidence, but the fact that the suspect moved all his\her prized possessions out the week before would be circumstantial evidence used to paint a picture of the intent (Slawiak).
Who Commits Arson?
Arson is not set to a particular group of individuals. Nearly any person can set fire to something. However, in 2003, 16,163 individuals were arrested for this crime. Nearly 85% of these people were male and over half of those arrested for arson were under the age of 18. Roughly 31% of this group was under the age of fifteen. (http://crime.about.com/od/stats/a/ucr_arson.htm) In most cases, those arrested are young males ranging from fifteen to eighteen.
The Motive
The motive of arsonists, of course, is in their heads. The usual motive is to gain money from an insurance claim. But, other motives can range from preventing a spouse from getting the house in a divorce to murder. Some common questions to ask when looking for motive are: Has the business been losing money? Was the suspect behind on credit card payments? Does the suspect have car payments, or gambling debts? Did the suspect recently buy the insurance or increase the coverage? Has the suspect expressed a wish to move to another city? Motivation may be in the suspect's head but it will manifests in his/her actions, documents, and bills. That is were an attorney can turn to find the necessary evidence to prove the element of motive(Slawiak). There are some cases where arson is committed deliberately to achieve some type of public satisfaction. This has been deemed the "hero effect" where some arsonists set fires so that they may appear as heroes. They will rescue endangered individuals or put out the fire themselves. The most common arsonists in this category are firefighters who will set fires because they are bored with the lack of fires in the area or want some form of recognition for extinguishing a fire. (http://www.answers.com/topic/arson) There are multiple avenues to explore when it comes to motive, it can be determined that the arsonist devised a means of destroying property in order to achieve some personal gain.
The Opportunity
Opportunity can be difficult to prove as well. Even though arson is poorly thought out, most arsonists at least have the sense to claim that they were somewhere else at the time of the arson. An investigator must show that the suspect had time to get to the point of the arson set the fire and get back to where ever they were at. Scientific evidence can show that some form of time delay device was used to start the fire. If it can be proven that someone under the arsonsit's control could have set the fire, opportunity can be proven (Slawiak).
Intention
Intention is the final element that has to be proven. An investigator looks at whether the fire was purposely set. For this the investigator does not have to prove that the owner set the fire, only that it was intentionally set by someone. If the owner agrees that the fire was purposely set, but claims that it was an angry neighbor or some local kids, the element of incendiarism (intention) can be proven. Experts are often brought in to show that the fire was intentional looking at burn patterns, and the debris left behind. The suspect often brings in his own experts to show that the same evidence shows that the fire was an accident(Slawiak).
One piece of evidence that can greatly help the investigator prove arson is the presence of an accelerant (such as gasoline). For an arsonist to create a complete loss they need a fast, very hot fire - and to get one they need to use something to accelerate the fire. Whatever they use has chemical properties that can be recovered from debris. When present, intent is much easier to prove (Slawiak).
Qualifying Structure
Historically, the definition of arson limited itself to a residence or home dwelling. And, that dwelling had to belong to someone else. Therefore a homeowner had every right to burn his own house down. Even if someone was a tenant in someone else's home they could be victimized by the owners of the property. The domicile-of-another requirement remained strong until portions of larger homes, such as servants' quarters, garages, tool sheds, and other secondary structures labeled "curtilage", were included in the coverage. Curtilage was originally qualified by whether the owner could possibly sleep or stay over in the building. This was eventually changed because the appended facilities were considered essential to the primary residence.
The term "Occupied Structure" invited in the commercial world and its establishments. Even though these buildings were not usually living quarters, legislators extended the logic of arson to places were death or injury could occur. Occupied Structure is defined as any structure, vehicle or place adapted for overnight accommodation of persons or for carrying on business therein, whether or not a person is actually present. If a building or structure is divided into separately occupied units, any unit not occupied by the actor is an occupied structure of another.
Punishment
Under common law, arson was punishable by death. In today's time, the crime is classified as a felony and is punishable by either death or imprisonment. Punishments are greater when the life of a human being is threatened. Longer sentences are also given if the act was done intentionally versus arson that was committed recklessly. Punishments for arson vary from state to state. In Oklahoma for example, the punishment can be thirty-five years in prison or a fine not exceeding $25,000, or both.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the crime of arson is something that will always be punished. The definition of what arson truly is may have slightly changed over time, but the general meaning is still clear. The deliberate damage to any structure or building by fire will find one in jail. The nature of this offense is quite serious. Motives may vary, but they are usually found out during a trial. The act of committing arson has no positive effect. Lives may be endangered, people may lose homes, nature is affected, and millions of dollars may be lost. Society does not benefit from arson in much the same way that there is no benefit from drunk driving. The end results prove to be harmful and no positive effects are felt. While statistics show who the main perpetrators of the crime are shown to be young males under eighteen, almost anyone can commit arson. The fact remains that while numbers have gone down in recent years, arson is still being committed around the country. Measures are being taken to limit and even keep these numbers down. In time, while they may not be completely eliminated, arson statistics should reach record low levels.
Resources
EmergencyNet NEWS Service. U.S. Fire Administration Combats Nation's Arson Problem. ENN Daily Report. http://www.emergency.com/arsonrpt.htm
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996.Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.
Slawiak, B, Albrecht G.T., Pierce J.D. Arson On Trial, A Matter Of Evidence. Today's Insurance Professionals, Winter 2002, Volume 59 / Number 12 (online) http://www.bbplaw.com/publications/0207arson.htm
Related Links
On this site you will find everything you need to know about arson.
http://www.bbplaw.com/publications/0207arson.htm
This is a great site to find anything you want to know about anything pertaing to law.
This site has all the arson statistics used in this paper.
http://www.emergency.com/arsonrpt.htm
The following sites also provide information regarding arson.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arson
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9009651/arson
http://www.iejs.com/Law/Criminal_Law/arson.htm
