Jesusita Fire Defendants Win Major Victory in Court Ruling

The judge's name is Dandona, not Dandora.

Seeing as the defendants clearly lacked more than a sensible shovel or fire extinguisher the day they caused such woeful & wanton destruction, perhaps, in the future, they might be persuaded to seek a "warm brain" permit.

Instead of spending money on attorneys to fight these charges they should attempt to pay restitution for all the damage their actions caused. Criminal or not, they are responsible for the fires and they should pay.

Is Joshua "Acting District Attorney"? I believe Ann Bramsen was appointed by the Board of Supervisors pending the election(?)

The District Attorney has to make political deals in crimes that pits anglos versus anglos.

The DA will never prosecute an anglo because they would lose a political deal. The only time the DA prosecutes an anglo is when they think it is a case that wins them points. Otherwise, anglos are bullet proof and can commit any crime they want to without fear of being prosecuted.

The DA spent $5.3 million to prosecute Micheal Jackson (Black) and recently spent $750,000 to prosecute Gil Armijo (Brown).

Yet in the Tea Fire (all White) and in the Jesusita Fire (all White) no one was prosecuted. Although in the combined fires, over 300 homes were burned to the ground.

Hay but then again, the culprits were White anglos.

For honesty and diclosure purposes I am a White Anglo. So I have no problem with my all-White Anglo District Attorney Office giving me special treatment.

However, maybe .. Just maybe .. we all would be better off with a District Attorney that prosecutes cases based on evidence and facts and not on racist prejudice.

Just my humble opinion. Have a Wonderful Day !!!

And, uh, Jesse James Hollywood, was he Indonesian or something? James Rugge from the subcontinent, William Skidmore an Inuit, Graham Pressley Maasai, and Ryan Hoyt Hmong?

There people go again - jumping to their own conclusions in the absence of evidence to support their suppositions. The Judge ruled that the Hot Work Permit statutes did not apply to weedcutters! There is a reason for that - weedcutters don't start fires! There is no evidence whatsoever that the defendants started the fire or had anything whatsoever to do with it. It was reported that they were off the mountain almost two hours before any fire or smoke was discovered, and the judge agreed with the defense that weedcutters don't start fires and are not within the definition of hot tools.

This was a Hail-Mary-type grandstand play by then Acting DA Josh Lynn to grab headlines for his campaign for DA. It royally backfired on him. Say g'bye, Josh!

It's also too bad the fire investigators didn't conduct a thorough investigation, as it appears that once the two defendants self-reported that they were cutting weeds in the area, the whole investigation focused on them to the exclusion of any other possibilities. Amateurish sleuthing, me thinks!

Now, why don't the investigators and the prosecutors go back and do it right so that whomever really was responsible for the fire is brought to justice.

Once again, Josh Lynn hoisted himself on His Own Petard! Is that the kind of DA we want to elect in June?

Weed whacker with metal blade can't start a fire? "Permit" me to doubt...

Ever hear of sparks from metal striking stone? Boy Scouts are taught to start fires that way, or at least they were at one time.

I agree with ThePetard, the entire case was based on circumstantial evidence and a vaguely worded statute. It would have been a mockery of the justice system had the judge allowed the charges to stand.

I am sorry to all the folks who lost homes and property who desperately want someone to place the blame on, but there is no firm evidence to show that these two guys had any connection to the fire other than doing some work in the area on the same day. For all we know it could have been a 7 year old burning ants with a magnifying glass.

Just ruling. Two good guys, who have spent their lives on the mountain, responsibly fighting fires and maintaining trails, told authorities they were doing trail maintenance two HOURS before the fire started. If the timeline is right, it is almost impossible that they started the fire. This has always seemed more about trying to hold someone responsible than about justice (i.e., political grandstanding). I don't think Dana & Craig's trail clearing had anything to do with starting the fire.

Becky they may be good guys, but they did not act responsibly. If they had spent their lives "on the mountain" they should have known not to do work on a day like that. They also should have known their are local groups who actually do trail work "responsibly" I don't think there is any question there was no intent, and don't know if they were responsible or not. However to defend what they were doing that day as anything more than stupid, reckless, and selfish is a travesty.

This comes a no surprise to anyone. What concerns me is that Josh Lynn, in his capacity as “acting DA,” was responsible for signing off on this type of prosecution. I think he owes the community an explanation as to why it took so long to put forth a losing legal strategy.

In my mind this really shows how inexperienced he is. No offence to Lulejian, but Lynn assigned the wrong prosecutor to the case and filled the wrong charges. And know he’s asking us to elected him DA?!

No thanks…

If memory serves correct Lynn had nothing to do with the case because his house was threatened by the fire for a time. He said he would not get involved to avoid an appearance of bias. Those using this forum to stump for Dudley by misinforming the public about the truth are doing Dudley a disservice.

“Nothing to do with the case.” He was the “acting DA.” And as he has said, responsible for this case. You Lynn supporters can’t have it both ways. Either he was running the office then or he wasn’t. If he was, he should step up and say they messed up. If he wasn’t he should stop saying he was and admit he’s not qualified for the job.

"based on evidence and facts and not on racist prejudice"

Ironic much?

"ust ruling. Two good guys, who have spent their lives on the mountain, responsibly fighting fires and maintaining trails, told authorities they were doing trail maintenance two HOURS before the fire started. If the timeline is right, it is almost impossible that they started the fire."

That has nothing to do with this ruling ... and if it did, it would be judicial error. The judge's job here was to determine whether the statute applied to the use of a weed cutter, that is all.

The fire was started by a piece of the missle that was shot from Vandenberg that day.. I was up by the Ruins when I saw the piece come down.

However no one was interested when I reported it.

I think this is a big coverup and the poor dudes who were trying to do the right thing are getting nailed for what our military did.

And YES...SB is totally racist! Just take a look at the Drunk Driving Manslaughter history of convictions.....blacks or browns get 5 times the sentence of whites.

This guy somehow got a general contractors license which ya think would give him some clue about safe handling of tools - but no - he hikes into the front country on the hottest and windiest day of the year to do a little gardening with a gas powered metal bladed cutting tool. Have they made any public apologies or donated anything to a victims fund? How about some pictures of these guys so the public can at least get out of their way?

Let us review how weed whackers with metal blades "cannot cause fires", shall we:

• 8,733 acres burned
• 80 homes destroyed; 15 homes damaged
• 1 commercial property destroyed
• 2 outbuildings damaged, 79 outbuildings destroyed
• 1,857 personnel on scene: 111 engines, 57 crews
• 1 air attack tanker and 4 helicopters
• 30 firefighter injuries
• Estimated costs $17 million

A piece of missile started it? Sure, why not. And maybe the Pope's halo of denial circled the Earth and settled in the coastal chaparral of SB as a burning bush. Don't laugh---it could happen . . .

I've heard from multiple witnesses in PERSON and comments on this site that the fire was started by a piece of errant rocket from Vandenberg, NOT by weedcutters.

Go look at the dates, Draxor, there was in fact a rocket fired off some time before the fire started. If you want to mock people for attempting to find the truth, then maybe you should go to a comedy website instead of a news and fact finding website.

Loon-y-pt yes and in New Orleans there are "witnesses" who said they dynamited the levee's they were completely wrong also, so whats your point?

pointssouth, you should realize "loonpt" makes sense of a disorderly world by in a Reverse-Occam's-Razor fashion, by tossing in conspiracy whenever necessary:

- Cause of Jesusita Fire
- Autism
- 9/11 Attack
- Global Climate Change
- Financial Meltdown
- Elections and Governments and their Shadowy Puppetmasters
-- etc., etc.

and if you 'click' on his name to inspect his history of comments, you will find a cohesive thread of counter-intuition truly singular on this website.

But I suggest you not do so, to avoid pulling something or other.