News: Jury convicts Monterey County serial arsonist

Cal Fire investigators successful again - Serial arsonist conviction the Facts:

• Cal Fire investigators accused Lance Oliver Scott, 39, a Carmel resident and father of three young kids, of igniting 11 fires.
• Searches of his house and car following his arrest yielded items related to arson, as well as marijuana plants, hashish and pot.
• Lance Oliver Scott was found guilty Friday of starting five fires in the Jacks Peak area in 2006 and 2007, growing marijuana, possessing it for sale and making hash oil.
• Jailed since his arrest over a year ago.
• Scott is to appear before Monterey County Superior Court Judge Terrance Duncan Sept. 26 for sentencing of up to 16 years and eight months.
• Father of three young kids...

Related Article from the Pine Cone

Jury convicts serial arsonist

By MARY BROWNFIELD - Published: September 5, 2008

A Jury that included Carmel assistant city clerk Molly Laughlin found Lance Oliver Scott, 39, guilty Friday of starting five fires in the Jacks Peak area in 2006 and 2007, as well as growing marijuana, possessing it for sale and making hash oil.

Jailed since his arrest more than a year ago, Scott is next set to appear before Monterey County Superior Court Judge Terrance Duncan Sept. 26 for sentencing of up to 16 years and eight months.

Evidence tying Scott to the suspicious blazes was key in finding him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, Laughlin told The Pine Cone. Cal Fire investigators and Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Steve Somers accused Scott, a Carmel resident and father of three young kids, of igniting 11 fires in dry grass beside some of the roads snaking through the forested, hilly, upscale residential area that is also home to a county park. Searches of his house and car following his arrest yielded items related to arson, as well as numerous marijuana plants, hashish and pounds of pot.

After the prosecution spent a few days calling investigators, sheriff’s deputies and experts to detail the evidence and logic behind each allegation, defense attorney Richard Rosen questioned several character witnesses who described Scott as a nature lover who would never want to damage the environment. “I was impressed by what his friends said about him as an outdoorsman,” Laughlin said. “That seemed to be very consistent.”

Another witness, Frank Emerson of the Carmel River Steelhead Association, was forced to appear in court under subpoena to tell the jury about Scott’s work rescuing steelhead in the Carmel River, though he does not know Scott well. “It seems like he has done a fair amount of good in his life, with the steelhead and all that,” Laughlin observed. “I hand it to him for that.”

She also found Scott’s demeanor on the stand impressive.

“He was a lot more cool and collected than I thought he would be,” she said.

Charting the facts

Laughlin reported the jurors, who are from all over Monterey County, worked well together, contributed equally to the discussion and got along during deliberations that began last Thursday afternoon and ended the next day.

“Everybody listened, and we had some good debate, but everybody was very respectful,” she said.
The group first discussed the drug charges, which Scott did not deny and in fact used to explain his repeated presence in Jacks Peak.

“The marijuana charges we dispensed with quickly, because there was no argument there,” Laughlin said.
Led by a foreman who had served on juries in a couple of other cases and was therefore more experienced than the others, jurors began scrutinizing the 11 blazes.

“We made a chart of each fire, one after the other: where it was, what time, what evidence was found that could lead to a guilty charge,” she explained.

According to evidence presented during the trial, Scott used a sparkler to start one fire and a torn matchbook to start another. A third fire was started with burning paper, and surveillance cameras installed in the area by Cal Fire investigators showed Scott’s car near the scene. The jury found Scott guilty of setting those fire, as well as two others.

But a blaze which broke out July 21, 2007, on Barnet Segal Road resulted in a not-guilty verdict.

“There was a chance it could have been accidentally started,” Laughlin said.

And they also failed to convict for a fire set with what Laughlin called a “really wacko device,” incorporating CO2 canisters, model-rocket engines, duct tape and a rag soaked in flammable liquid.

“That one was the most important, because it had the enhancement,” she said, referring to the stiffer penalty for someone who has used an incendiary device to start a fire.

“Yes, he had rocket motors and duct tape at his house, but they weren’t the same,” she said to explain their finding him not guilty on that count.

When the jury returned with the verdicts, Scott sat quietly, and some of his family members who had been in the courtroom daily were there, according to Laughlin. She described his demeanor as “pretty stoic.”

And she said, “it was a well considered verdict. Nobody’s going to be 100 percent happy, but I think it was fair, and I think we did right by him.”

Laughlin, who had never before served on a jury, found the entire experience captivating and positive.

Although Somers was confident in every charge, he was pleased with the guilty verdicts on the eight for which Scott will be sentenced later this month, and he commended the extensive work and resources Cal Fire investigators put into the case. “It takes a lot to get an arson conviction, so we were happy,” Somers said this week.