Remaining “Tea Fire Ten” Plea

These Kids are being scapegoated for the Tea fire. As a resident of the affected area and someone who has recieved property damage from the fire I do not blame these kids. There were multiple reports from witnesses that say they saw someone else start the fire. Also there is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt that these kids did start it. The DA knows that they have no case and that is why there is a plea bargin.

That's some fire without a permit!

There were multiple reports from witnesses that say they saw someone else start the fire.

==========

Really? This is the first I've ever heard of this, and I think I've followed this story closely. Can you provide a link to verify this claim?

As someone who personally knows all 10 of the suspects, I can vouch for the fact that they saw other people around the tea fire area while they were there. I think that is what Golgo13 meant to say. They, personally, did not see who started the fire otherwise they would have DEFINITELY told the police who it was. Also, I urge all of you to take note that the media does not always give the correct information. There are mistakes in this article even. Please do not believe everything you read. I'm sure the writer did not mean to report incorrect things, but everyone is human and makes mistakes. That's definitely something I've learned since this whole ordeal began. The media is not always correct, and is often incorrect in at least some way.

Despite the apparent controversy about how the fire started, it was unconscionably reckless of them to start ANY FIRE in our dry foothills. Those so-called kids were legally adults and should have the guts to admit they did something seriously stupid. Nobody living in Santa Barbara County should be setting fires in our hills. For ANY REASON.

Karin6234 is right-on about incorrect reporting in our news. Years ago, I attended a local murder trial in a small mid western town and when I read about it in the local paper I wondered what trial this reporter was writing about. It was so full of inaccuracies that it was a lesson of being cautious in believing what I read from then on.

Should these kids have been starting a fire at all around the Tea Garden? Probably not under any circumstances with the dry conditions we are facing. Apparently, there is no proof under a reasonable doubt that they were responsible.

I thought there was a mandatory order that no fires of any kind were to be started in CA outdoors including campgrounds. Has that order not been in place for several years? I would like to see a reported story about that please.

Karin - Sorry but no one is debating whether or not the press makes mistakes - we all know that. If you are aware of significant errors in Meagher's article, tell us what they are. Otherwise, this is about what happened to these defendants. I am appalled to learn the extent of the DAs ineffectual and incompetent handling of this matter. Putting aside the DA's inability or failure to find evidence that these people were responsible for the Tea Fire, the DA showed very poor judgment and lack in spine in agreeing (a) to drop one of only two charges filed - that of starting an illegal fire, and (b) to let the defendants plead no contest to the remaining charge of misdemeanor trespass. As I read this article, it seems as though the defense attorneys were running the show, including insisting that no fire victims be permitted to speak at sentencing. While I understand the logic, given the DAs failure to charge the defendants with starting that fire, the overwhelming sense one gets is that the DAs office was spineless and pretty much bent over backwards to get no contest pleas to a single misdemeanor charge of no real consequence so it could close its books on these horrific events.

Justice?

Again there is not enough proof to convict these young adults of starting the Tea Fire. There is no proof beyond a reasonable doubt and a trial would only see these defendants acquitted. With conflicting reports as to what has started this fire there appears to be no clear answer. To have the victims speak would infer that these young adults are taking responsibility for the fire. This may not be the case. Personally I have property damage and still have rebuilding issues to deal with. There is also the issue of personal responsibility the homeowners have to accept.

Did they create a defensible space around their home?

Are they aware of the danger of living in a high risk fire area with many of the homes not up to current safety codes?

Let's stop playing the victim card and try to take personal responsibility for what we can do to prevent these types of disasters.

"the group alleged to have started last November's Tea Fire "

Chris Meagher is such a crappy reporter. There is no such allegation -- not from anyone in the legal system, which is what this article is about.

"Putting aside the DA's inability or failure to find evidence that these people were responsible for the Tea Fire"

How about the DA's inability or failure to find evidence that you're a serial murderer? Possibly because there is no such evidence?

Enough already with all you whining armchair lawyers! No evidence = no charge. Simple as that.

Golgo - The fact this DA didn't find such evidence is hardly the last word on the subject although the DA has probably succeeded in shielding these defendants from any further responsibility. In the Simpson case, a private litigant (with much better lawyers) found all kinds of evidence the DA had failed to find or even to look for and a completely different result was obtained in the civil case - double jeapardy having foreclosed further criminal charges. A similar effort is already underway involving some very good lawyers and I wouldn't be so quick to feel quite so warm and fuzzy about these "young adults". As for the rest, you would be well advised to stop blaming the victims and suggesting they 'fess up to things. Many people who did everything "right" lost their homes and their possessions.

As far as inaccuracies go, she did not report Decker-Trinidad's sentence correctly. Nor do I know why she is claiming him going to jail allows him to avoid probation.
These kids ARE taking responsibility for their actions, I'd hardly claim that $500 and 75 hours of community service is avoiding taking responsibility. They recognize that they should not have trespassed or had a small bonfire, but they are taking responsibility for their actions. There is no reason to claim they are not, and they have been extremely cooperative with the police and the court throughout this whole thing.
Justice, I know what you mean. Many people who lost their homes did do everything in their means to protect it. I was also very impacted by this fire, and know that sometimes you can do everything right and still end up losing everything. But there is no reason to blame the "tea fire 10" for starting a fire when our legal system has found them innocent.
Believe me, I'm sure it would have made life so much easier for the SB legal system to have found these kids guilty, everyone (including myself) would LOVE to know how the fire began. But we can't blame people for something they didn't do. It just doesn't make sense.

Karin - Appreciate your comments and while I don't really "blame" them for the fire, I am not as forgiving of their attitude and behavior - as I understand it, they did not come forward after the fire and their identities and activities were discovered only because someone else went to the authorities and "told" on them. As I also understand it , two of them left the country right after they were "discovered". I was also disturbed to hear from court personnel that at their first appearance in the case (arraignment I believe it was) they were laughing, making noise and generally making light of the proceedings and had to be told several times to behave properly - all of which evidenced a failure to acknowledge the seriousness of the proceedings and the fact that even while they denied any responsibility, the events of that day had resulted in substantial damage and life-altering loss being inflicted on many in this community who were still suffering. (For some, this was as bad as anything that happened during Katrina, Andrew, etc. about which it would be disturbing to think of anyone laughing). Everything the DAs office did seemed to reinforce the sense that what they had done was much ado about nothing and need not be taken seriously.

Here's a quick tip for those of you posting here to defend your friends.

Stop.

All you're doing is making people even angrier. Saying the people who lost their homes in the Tea Fire have to "stop playing the victim card" and "accept personal responsibility" is shockingly stupid and insulting.

You want to know how to prevent disasters like this? How about telling your idiotic friends not to start bonfires in the hills!

We need a better kind of community service for brats like this, preferably something related to fire fighting.

My personal preference would be to have handed them fire extinguishers and dropped them screaming from a helicopter into the Jesusita fire, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Chris, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to have that "s" in front! It was a mistype, as we all are prone to mistakes :) And thanks for backing me up.
I understand that for those who do not know the 10 accused it may be much more difficult to forgive, because all you know of them is what you've heard in the news, and this is all a very negative situation. Justice, while I can't deny or confirm what you heard about their actions in the court room (simply because I have not talked to any of them about how they acted in court, only about what happened legally), I can tell you with complete sincerity that they feel terrible about what happened, and had the DA decided there was evidence to charge them with the tea fire, they would have taken their punishment, as they are taking the one handed to them. The reason they did not immediately come forward in the first hours after the fire began is because they could not even begin to imagine that their small smores bonfire could have begun the terrible tragedy that happened the next day (some may call this ignorance, but please keep in mind that their fire was many many hours before the tea fire began, and honestly, before this all began I would not have thought it remotely possible that ashes could reignite so many hours later). As for the two who left the country, I can not defend that decision. I don't think it was a good idea on their behalf, but I am also not as closely connected with them and do not know their reasoning behind it.
I know the wounds left by this terrible tragedy run deep, and everyone in our community has been affected. I don't deny anyone's right to be upset at what happened. But to direct accusations and anger at those who are innocent of beginning the tea fire will not help the wounds heal. I know sometimes it takes time to forgive, and some people will always hold grudges against the "tea fire 10", but I hope that in time some will be able to let go of holding them responsible for something they have been legally found innocent of.

Karin - good that you acknowledge some things but you are now starting to misstate the facts in an effort to defend your friends. They didn't EVER come forward - it was not hours but days afterward before someone else told authorities about them and they were forced to appear before investigators and admit they were there, set a fire, etc.
And just to be clear, they were not "found innocent" - the DA's office stated they were unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that their fire caused or became the Tea Fire - which isn't to say there won't be enough evidence to prove that ("by a preponderance of the evidence") and find them liable in a civil trial. You and your friends should leave well enough alone and consider themselves very lucky - the criminal justice system is done with them but the reality is that there is a perfectly good chance they did start the Tea Fire - the DAs office simply felt it could not prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. The reality may well be otherwise.

Just a thought- if you honestly didn't think you started a fire, why would you turn yourself in?
I'm going to leave this alone because debating over a newspaper article isn't going to change anything.

Initially, they weren't asked to "turn themselves in" but rather to come forward and provide information about where they were and what they did at the Tea Garden before the fire started. For days after the fire, there numerous news reports about people having built a bon-fire at the Tea Garden the night before but no one knew who they were. They knew the investigators wanted to identify, locate and speak with them but they refused to come forward and were identified only when someone else told the authorities who they were and what they had done at the Tea Garden. Karin, you seem to be close friends and in touch with them so why not ask them why they behaved as they did, why two of them fled the country immediately after being identified, and why they behaved as they did at arraignment. Let us know what they say - no one else, including the DA, has done so.

This is silly. No matter what happens to these kids it is not going to bring back my landscaping or garage that was damaged. I am not these young adults friend but I think we can just blame them for something that might not have been their fault. Justice give it a rest. Try to put some of that revenge energy into rebuilding.

There is a bigger issue here and it has to do with climate change. Four major fires in 18 months is not just a coincidence.