Tea Fire Ten to Face Misdemeanor Charges

This is absolute insanity! It's been how long now, since 11/13!? The workers that started the Zaca fire were named almost immediately after the investigators found out who they were.
Two SB residents almost DIED because of these selfish young idiots, but they won't be charged with actually starting the fire, just some misdemeanors. I'm outraged, shocked, and ashamed of the officials involved in this "investigation".

Sorry for you if you had a personal loss. Very sorry for you for manifesting and harboring such anger. If I was religious I would pray for you, but I am not so I will have positive thoughts that you may one day find a way to let this go in a non vengeful manner so you can find peace. Justis or Karma will take its due course. The universe is good that way.

Remember OJ won the criminal suit but lost the civil suit. Even if there is not enough evidence to try the 10 criminally there will probably be civil suits where the burden of proof is less rigerous.
This is a sad situation for all involved. Hopefully we will all learn from this and understand more fully the dangerous of the high fire area that we live in. As a parent of teenagers and young adults I am very glad my children were not involved in the tea fire. And because of the tea fire I am certain they never will be involved in an illegal bonfire. But I must wonder, were we just lucky?

Looking back to the Zaca Fire, the two ranch hands were initially charged with five felony counts of "recklessly causing a fire". But these charges were dropped by Judge Canter because he found recklessness was not involved:

http://www.independent.com/news/2008/oct...

One of the ranch workers eventually pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge and paid a $200 fine (the employer/ranch was cleared of any charges):

http://www.independent.com/news/2009/jan...

So if I understand this correctly ... unlike the Zaca Fire, it can't even be proven that the defendants caused the Tea Fire. I suppose if the DA's office could make the case, Felony charges would be in order. Yes, I wonder if a civil suit will be brought.

I imagine many civil suits will be filed. So many lost their homes that don't have the means or ability to rebuild and the careless of a few is likely the cause. Note how I said "likely", innocent until proven guilty right? Maybe they can not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that these ten aren't responsible but more than likely they will. If any of them has a shred of decency they will admit fault and take some responsibility for their actions.

It will be surprising if the 10 young adults have much money or insurance coverage... maybe they'd be covered by their parents' policies.

Had this prosecution been better publicized earlier, the other hikers/trespassers might have come forward or otherwise been identified, and a stronger case could have been made.

Looks to me like the DA & Sheriff dropped the ball. Sure hope that powerful folks with influence aren't among the parents, then it will really look like a coverup.

I smell a cover up! IMPEACH THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY and the SHERIFF

According to this article there must be a lack of physical evidence leading to the beginning of this fire. How ironic because this is a very small area compared to the enormously destructive arson started fires in Australia, where they have already caught,arrested and booked one suspected arsonist. However, so be it and the law is the law and forensic science can only do so much. Naturally though we can still feel sympathy for the family of the man who had a heart attack, sadness and hope for the young couple who are still suffering from the terrible burns, sorrow and empathy for the many who lost their homes, and cry with them for the loss of their the beloved pets. It also hurts and angers one to see this senseless destruction and cruel collateral damage to the adjacent wild life. However we are blessed with a host of unfamiliar birds coming into our garden, obviously ousted from their homes, including a type of Pigeon rarely seen in "civilisation"! Our 'regulars" are a little put out by these handsome,large and nervous birds, especially the Doves; but generally speaking things are settling down, the Sparrows and the Finches dodge in between the big guys, the Scrub Jay, noisily his brisk and efficient self bursts in and out, ignoring everyone. From their private branch on the Pine tree the wise Crows look down on all this socialising, in splendid but clearly compassionate isolation. Life goes on.................

Questions remain in Tea Fire - D.A. Stanley says evidence doesn't show who was to blame ...

What a joke this DA.

We are going to see if Santa Barbara news press is doing the right investigation job to find if there is any contact and/or connection between the family of one student and the DA or SBPD.

Why SBPD is not using water torture to find who is responsible? I think it's what they are/were doing sometimes against innocent victims... But here nothing... what a joke..

We should now stop criticizing african countries, there is no liberty of expression and work for the press in SB. I'm also pretty sure that the DA called the SB newspress to not have any picture of the students in front of the press like we had for the contractors...we'll see

Hopefully in 1, 5 or 10 years, we will learn what really happened and who had enough power and money to scare the DA and SBPD to go further in the investigation.

What a poor city and country...no liberty and freedom for the journalists

By the way, we can have the proof of what is justice in SB.

http://www.sbsheriff.org/pr/02050902.htm...

Yet another example of poor judgment at the DA's office. At the least, pathetic public relations. If they have known all along who had trespassed and started a bonfire (both misdemeanors), why didn't they charge them with that right away instead of waiting 3 months? Then if evidence was later developed that they had started the Tea Fire (a felony) they could have added that charge. This is SOP in other cases--what's different here? Poor handling by the DA is why the whole community is now suspicious.

The DA's excuse for non-disclosure of the alleged suspects for the TeaFire to avoid tainting the case smacks of serious duplicity and injustice. As a matter of comparison, 8 alleged non-contractors (mostly 'non anglo') were plastered on the front page of the news-press*(with larger than usual images) with no regard for tainting or any concern about public judgment. It's obvious to everyone, Lady Justice's trays are weighted heavily to one side.
(for the sake of avoiding any assumptions, I am anglo and not a contractor)

This is an absolutely absurd misuse of prosecutorial discretion. After spending over 30 years in the criminal justice system myself, time and time again I've seen both the law enforcement agencies and the District Attorney reveal the names of those involved in or suspected in major cases almost immediately. The public has a right to know, especially where one man died as an indirect cause of the fire, two persons were badly injured, hundreds of millions of dollars of homes and property were destroyed and peoples lives were disastrously uprooted. And this doesn't even include the cost of fighting the fire -- paid through our taxes.

I agree with some on here that there is obviously some reason for withholding the names beyond what the DA is claiming. I suspect that once the names do ultimately surface, we will find that there is another, more indefensible, reason. If so, all those involved in covering up the names ought to be held publicly accountable for their misuse of their official authority to conceal the identities of the miscreants in this matter.

Further, in any criminal investigation, if the authorities cannot find an exact cause for what happened, the next approach a professional will take is to eliminate things that could not have been the cause. In this case, it seems that the party bonfire is the lone fact still standing.

There is also what is called "overwhelming circumstantial evidence". People have been sent to prison and even executed on circumstantial evidence. In this case, is there any other explanation for how the fire started? Not that we've heard! The circumstantial evidence seems overwhelming that the Tea Fire spread from the party bonfire. It seems that "probable cause" exists in abundance. It has been my experience that probable cause is the threshhold for arrest and it is then up to the court and a jury to decide if the evidence surpasses the next threshhold of reasonable doubt.

So, why has this case been handled in such secrecy? Perhaps some independent governmental agency or board ought to examine that question. It's this type of secrecy that dilutes public trust in its government. Must accountability be left in the hands of the people at the next election?

"In the halls of justice the only justice is in the halls," so said Lenny Bruce. So the Santa Barbara County DA seems to imply that the cause of the fire didn't for certain stem from a bondfire from perhaps a day earlier in the Tea House area. Well, if not we need to bring back the forensic fire experts and get to the bottom of this. By now enough money has been spent on this investigation to know the cause and if not the bondfire, then what???

Then, an obscure Department of Motor Vehicles Law prevents the DA's office from releasing the names of the people who participated in the bondfire, even though it is now public information!!! Wonder what creative genius came up with this excuse?

In another local news paper, on the fourth page of the front page section, the same section with a posed picture of the DA announcing the Tea Fire Tens' lucky day, is a picture of a black, male, eighteen year old allegedly arrested in Las Vegas on suspicion of burglary and likely has been associated with previous gang activity in the Lompoc area. No doubt this person is a public threat yet I wonder if he drives a car and why the same law doesn't hold for this young, misguided person of color? Further in the same newspaper, page 6 of the front page section, is a mug shot of a twenty four year old allegedly arrested for possession of $3000 worth of marijuana and $3000 in cash in Santa Maria. This person has a Hispanic last name and is also a person of color. Of course, his crimes are only alleged, too, but that didn't prevent his face from being included in the paper along with his name. Perhaps he doesn't drive a car, dunno.

My hunch is that the Tea Fire Ten have one or more lawyers looking out for them, even though the DA claims no pressure was exerted internal or external to the investigation. If they had been represented by the Public Defender or didn't have any legal representation, I'm willing to wager that their names would be public.

Basically, what the DA did was punt and you really can't blame them after the Michael Jackson and Jesse James Hollywood debacles that occurred under a different DA's watch.

If citizens of Santa Barbara County just need to get over this, why aren't we forgiving all alleged criminals in the County. I don't understand the uneven treatment. Forgive and forget, right?

Or, is it like Lenny said, "In the halls of justice the only justice is in the halls' in the left leaning South County?

Well this is a great discussion, some of you are really showing your true colors. Hateful, and in some cases even racist.

"If any of them has a shred of decency they will admit fault and take some responsibility for their actions."

-santabarbarasand

THEY DID. From what I've read, they came forward on their own and told authorities what happened. They did not purposely start a fire.

We don't know who started the big fire, everybody here is acting like they know, or like they would be able to figure it out. I always had a hard time figuring out how they determine the cause of big fires in the first place. I mean, think about it, even with forensic evidence how the hell do you find the cause of a fire that burned thousands of acres??? It's really not as easy as you seem to be imagining in your fairytale newspaper headline world.

People who participate in bonfires are not bad people. I don't know why everybody here is out for blood when the ten people were just participating in a bonfire. What has the world come to? This is something our ancestors did on a daily basis. Please, please, please have some perspective here. They even said they tried to put the fire out after they were done. Sounds like some very responsible individuals who came forward on their own that just happened to be put in a bad situation with horrible circumstances. Obviously the property owner didn't mind they were using their property.

I lost my house in this fire. I have already forgiven these kids and I do not wish for them to be put into jail. That said, they do need to know that there are consequences to the lack of judgment that they showed. I would have been happy if they were given a couple of hundred Community Service hours including helping to clean up the debris on the properties involved. They could have been blended in with other kids that were up there helping out. That way they could have seen first hand the devastation that they caused both emotionally and physically. Not to mention the loss of life from the gentleman who suffered a heart attack and the Hoffman's which suffered severe burns.. I say that "they caused" because even though they did not mean to set the whole canyon on fire, they should have used better judgment while trespassing and lighting a fire in a Fire Hazard Area in the first place.

BTW, I do not think anyone is saying that these are "bad people". But, as far as being responsible goes, it has been reported that the 10 did NOT come forward on their own, it was a tip phoned into the Fire Tip Hotline that led authorities to the 10 suspects. Which to their credit, did cooperate once sought out. There are numerous signs indicating that the whole surrounding area is a "High Fire Hazard Area" Not real responsible behavior in my book.

sevendolphins: Looks to me like the DA & Sheriff dropped the ball. Sure hope that powerful folks with influence aren't among the parents, then it will really look like a coverup.

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Hey, that's exactly what Winbills said on EdHat. Hmmm...

loonpt wrote:

"... People who participate in bonfires are not bad people. I don't know why everybody here is out for blood when the ten people were just participating in a bonfire..."

They are if the bonfire is lit under conditions that make it dangerous and/or is not extinguished properly. The next time you see a firefighter, ask him/her if its a good idea to light a bonfire in an area with low humidity, windy conditions, and proximity to fuel.

How could the people who accidentally started the Zaca Fire be charged with five felony counts of "recklessly causing a fire", but these ten not!!? Regardless of whether their specific fire started the Tea fire, they STILL recklessly STARTED A FIRE - as far as I understand, this is undisputed. Why wouldn't this be enough for felony charges to be brought? These misdemeanor are a joke and an insult to justice.

If we all look back on our own past, most of us have made mistakes that we still live with the consequences of to this day, so no one is exempt from making mistakes. All people who recklessly drink and party should be aware theses consequences of their actions will stay with them no matter what, no matter race or even religion. Should they be treated any differently? absolutely not...

The people who have lost their homes in this fire need better closure then what they have received, and I wish them the best.

Gail Devine