Corral Fire Suspect Cases in Holding Pattern

• Date for Pair Viewed as Less Culpable Is Continued to Fall

BY ANNE SOBLE

Last Thursday, two Culver City men, Eric Matthew Ullman, 19, and Dean Lavorante, 20, charged with three counts related to starting the 2007 Corral wildfire that claimed 53 homes and dozens of other structures, were in Van Nuys Superior Court for a preliminary set hearing that was rescheduled to Sept. 15.
Attorneys for two Los Angeles men who are similarly charged and have pled not guilty, Brian Alan Anderson, 23, and William Thomas Coppock, 24, have filed a pre-trial motion to dismiss in their separate proceedings that is currently slated to be heard May 29.
Only the case against the third member of the L.A. contingent, Brian David Franks, 28, has been concluded with a plea bargain sentence of probation and community service that requires him to testify against Anderson and Coppock, the two who are deemed most culpable in starting the November 2007 wildfire by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Burnouts and their neighbors in Corral Canyon have been present at most of the court hearings and expressed impatience with delays extending proceedings to almost two years after the fire occurred.