Keats v. State2/13/2003
On the evening of December 30, 2000, appellant angrily left some friends, stating to one friend "if [you don't] want to go to jail, get out of the car . . .." The friend complied. Appellant then returned to his mobile home in the early morning hours of December 31, 2000, and, appearing angry and intoxicated, asked his roommate to "get [her] stuff and leave, get out of his house." After gathering some of her property, and her son, in order to leave the residence, the roommate observed appellant break a window and then saw a small fire in the hallway. She extinguished the fire, and as she left, appellant "was talking about burning the house down with himself in it and he was tired of everybody using him." The roommate reported the incident to an emergency dispatcher.
[ ] Campbell County sheriff's deputies responded to appellant's residence just after 1:00 a.m. on December 31, 2000. As they stood outside the mobile home, they observed appellant periodically inside the residence, but he did not initially respond to their requests to exit the residence or talk to them. Eventually, the of ficers entered the residence and located appellant in the bathroom. A lengthy period of interaction and attempted negotiation between appellant, the officers, and, at appellant's request, another individual ensued. During this period, appellant's unstable demeanor vacillated rapidly between suicidal, threatening, anger, laughter, and depression. For example, appellant frequently exited and retreated to the bathroom, told the officers to get out of his house, threatened to kill himself if they did not do so, displayed three different knives, at times held a knife to his abdomen and throat, stabbed knives into the bathroom wall, door, and floor while yelling at the officers to "come and get some of this," laughed at the officers, and stated that if the officers came through the bathroom door, a knife was positioned such that it would harm appellant.
[ ] Appellant ultimately proceeded to light several fires at different times and at different locations within the residence. The officers, and firemen, were able to extinguish and control these fires until at least one fire began to spread, filling the mobile home with smoke. At one point, appellant broke a window, but upon seeing an officer outside the window pointing a flashlight and firearm at him, appellant took two deep breaths of fresh air and returned to the smoke-filled residence. Eventually, amidst the smoke, flames and steam, the officers subdued appellant, who was proceeding through the mobile home with a knife in his hand, and placed him into custody. The mobile home was "damaged probably beyond replacement fixing."
[ ] The State charged appellant with first-degree arson and possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent, both felonies. A jury found appellant guilty of first-degree arson, but acquitted him of the possession of a deadly weapon charge. The district court sentenced appellant to a three-to seven-year prison term. He appeals from that judgment and sentence.
DISCUSSION
SPECIFIC INTENT JURY INSTRUCTIONS
[ ] Appellant first argues that the district court did not adequately instruct the jury regarding the specific intent element of first-degree arson. At trial, appellant entered a timely objection, stating that "it is reversible error not to instruct the jury as to the definition of specific intent" and that "the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant maliciously set a fire specifically intending to destroy or damage an occupied structure." See W.R.Cr.P. 30(a). Appellant contends that two jury instructions he offered at trial, which instructions the district court refused, would have adequat
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