Saturday, October 02, 1999
Teen guilty of arson in school fire
Jury acquits him of more serious charge
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — Timothy E. Cummins was acquitted of aggravated arson, but was convicted of the less serious charge of arson by a Butler County jury Friday in connection with a Jan. 15 fire that caused $1.7 million in damage to Wilson Junior High School and forced the school to close for three months.
Mr. Cummins, 18, of Hamilton, could receive up to 18 months in prison. A conviction on aggravated arson could have brought a maximum of five years in prison.
Common Pleas Judge Patricia Oney will sentence him on Nov. 15.
To convict Mr. Cummins of aggravated arson, the jury had to believe that he set the fire knowing that he was creating a substantial risk for serious physical harm to the firefighters who put out the blaze.
The arson charge required only serious damage to the building.
“We're pleased with the verdict,” said Andy Nastoff, Mr. Cummins' attorney. “It was a complicated legal distinction the jury had to make between aggravated arson and arson.
“Hopefully the community can put this incident behind it and move forward. Mr. Cummins has been held responsible for what he did.”
Mr. Nastoff conceded in closing arguments that his client drove a 15-year-old friend to Wilson around 2:30 a.m., Jan. 15, handed him a can of gasoline and stood guard while the friend set the fire.
But Mr. Nastoff said that Mr. Cummins did not deserve to be convicted of aggravated arson.
Assistant prosecuting attorney Pat Moeller argued that the fire created a substantial risk to the firefighters, even though no one was inside Wilson when the fire was set and no firefighters were injured.
Mr. Cummins knew that firefighters would be risking their lives trying to put out the fire, he said.
“It is not a prank,” Mr. Moeller said. “It is an act of violence.”
The absence of injuries doesn't eliminate the substantial risk they faced, Mr. Moeller said.
But Mr. Nastoff said that in 829 structural fires in Hamilton from Jan. 1, 1996 to Jan. 15, 1999, only 26 firefighters were injured, and only two of those injuries were serious.
That amounts to less than a 1 percent chance of injury to a firefighter in a structural fire, he said.
“The state has proven that there is a slight risk of serious physical harm,” Mr. Nastoff said.
A Hamilton police detective testified that Mr. Cummins told him he stood guard while his 15-year-old friend threw a bottle of gasoline in a school window and started the fire.
However, the 15-year-old boy contradicted him earlier this year in juvenile court. He said that Mr. Cummins threw the bottle while he stood guard.
The 15-year-old pleaded guilty to aggravated arson and is serving a one-year sentence in a locked juvenile facility.
Homecoming: Warm tradition now overheated
West-side bridge idea revisited
Siblings arraigned in cabbie slaying
Tracing the trail of Morgan's raid
Civil War raid on house in Symmes inspired book
Teen guilty of arson in school fire
Money error adds to stress for foster parents
Hours fly as dancers stretch
Ivo Pogorelich phones it in - from Mars
GET TO IT
Arbitrator awards Lakota schools $1.78M to repair leaky roofs
Church celebrates 75th anniversary
Fired Ky. police boss sues to get his job back
No retrial for man who fled with girl
Officer indicted on burglary charges
River center is classroom in outdoors
Separated for years, siblings united at last
Township plans to legalize 'West Chester' name
Transport officials plead cases
TRISTATE DIGEST
