Court Delays Continue for Five Malibu Wildfire Suspects

• Two Corral Canyon Cave Bonfire Starters Slated to Appear in Court This Week

BY ANNE SOBLE

The two Culver City men charged with starting a bonfire in the infamous local “rave caves” that was taken over by three men from Los Angeles and stoked until it went out of control, claiming 53 homes and causing six injuries in Corral Canyon a year ago, are slated for arraignment on Thursday, Dec. 11, in the Van Nuys courthouse.
All five men were originally charged with three felony counts of recklessly starting a fire during high wind conditions and a declared emergency. Each count carries a possible sentence of between two-to-four years. They all had pleaded not guilty.
Charges against Culver City residents Dean Lavorante and Eric Ullman were filed separately by the District Attorney’s Office as the pair were reportedly chased from the cave by the others before the fire began consuming nearby brush and endangering hundreds of lives in the vicinity.
Last week, an abbreviated court hearing for two of the three L.A. men, Brian Anderson and William Coppock, took place that was held over to Jan. 15 to accommodate a defense attorney’s prior courtroom obligations.
The Friday session was marked by the start of testimony against Anderson and Coppock by former co-defendant Brian Franks.
In September, Franks agreed to turn state’s evidence and pled guilty to one felony charge of recklessly causing a fire. His sentencing hearing is slated for Jan. 26.
Also testifying was one of the women who was at the cave on state parkland with the men.
Reiterated at the hearing were disclosures by the prosecution that, after the Los Angeles trio ejected Lavorante and Ullman from the cave, they added to the bonfire with firewood stolen from a local supermarket, on which they poured lighter fluid.
The two witnesses said the group was drinking, smoking marijuana and listening to music.
The witnesses said the partyers left the cave around 1:45 a.m. when the bonfire was so large that the cave filled with smoke, and went to a local fast food restaurant. The first report of wildfire to the Los Angeles County Fire Department came in about 3 a.m.
The hearing was continued before a county fire department expert and a sheriff’s department representative, witnesses for the prosecution, were able to testify.
A contingent of Corral Canyon residents led by Beverly Taki, the lead organizer of the Operation Recovery post-fire effort, expressed disappointed at the hearing’s early termination.
Taki said, “Those who lost their homes found it very hard to sit there and listen to the story being told.” She added, “All I could think about was all this partying was going on, while I was home quietly and silently sleeping.”
She praised prosecutor Ann Ambrose, saying, “The people still claim it was reckless and caused harm, and intend to prove it.”
Among those whose homes burned who attended the hearing and plan to offer input were Paul and Sara Grisanti, Gaetan St-Cyr, Barbara Sausse, Laura Schlieter and Robert Bailey.
Others from Corral who went to show support were Paul Morra, Aya Yoshida and Philip Wong.
The large contingent of Malibuites showing up at the hearing may have been a factor prompting Anderson’s aunt, Savannah Singer, to write a lengthy letter to editor of the Malibu Surfside News this week about the three L.A. men.
None of the attorneys for the five defendants have permitted them to speak to the press.