Arraignment of Two Men Who Originally
Started Corral Cave Fire Continued
• Pair May Seek Separate Trial from
Trio Who Allegedly Caused Fire to Spiral Out of Control
The two Culver City men charged with
starting the November fire that claimed 53 Malibu houses made a
brief court appearance last Thursday, and their attorneys
eagerly sought out reporters afterward to explain the
pair’s contention that the fire was “a terrible
accident.”
Eric Matthew Ullman and Dean Allen
Lavorante appeared before Judge Michael
Kellogg—coincidentally, a Malibu
resident—in the Van Nuys courthouse to enter pleas and be
arraigned on three felony arson counts each.
Ullman, 18, and Lavorante, 19, are two of
the five men accused of instigating the fire on Nov. 24, a
Friday night when hellacious Santa Ana winds were sweeping
through a cave at the top of Corral Canyon Road, a party
spot frequently the scene of illegal fires and underage
drinking.
Ullman’s attorney, Mark
Werksman, said outside the courtroom that
“my client is a good man, a decent man, who meant no harm
that night. These are good boys, from intact, loving families,
they are going to schools, and they are not rogues.”
Lavorante and Ullman appeared in
suits, with their parents, and all looking grim. They heard
their arraignment and plea-entering will be delayed until April
2 at the request of both prosecutors and the defense attorneys.
All five defendants in the case are charged
with recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury,
recklessly causing a fire to an inhabited structure, and
arson during a declared emergency. All three crimes are
felonies. Each carries a sentence of between two-four
years in state prison.
Neither attorney would allow their clients
to speak. But Werksman said he agreed with the rough
description of the night’s events made by Judge Kellogg
several weeks ago, at a hearing for the other three men charged
in the fire: Los Angeles residents Brian Allen Anderson, 22,
William Thomas Coppock, 23, and Brian David Franks, 27.
At that hearing, Judge Kellogg said the
state’s version of the fire’s origin was that the
two Culver City teens and two female companions had started a
small fire inside a hole-in-the-rock window cave that overlooks
the lights of the San Fernando Valley. According to the
investigation summarized by Judge Kellogg last month, the
foursome’s small party in the cave was interrupted when
the three L.A. men arrived, took over the scene, and chased off
Lavorante and Ullman.
Some time after those two men had driven
away, and after a large amount of alcohol had been consumed,
the Los Angeles trio stoked the fire with several bundles of
wood stolen from the Ralph’s Market in Malibu, and then
kicked burning logs into the brush below.
Intent to actually cause a brushfire,
however, is not necessary for convictions on the arson charges
brought against the five defendants, the judge has said in past
court appearances. The arson laws being used against the
men only require a finding by the jury of a negligent act of causing a fire that spreads.
At the previous hearing, Kellogg said
red flag alerts had been broadcast for days before the fire
broke out, and the near-hurricane-force winds buffeting the
Santa Monica Mountains that night made it obvious that a
bonfire could have terrible consequences. The judge, who had
helped friends move horses during a local fire two months
earlier, also noted that large signs prohibiting fire were
posted down the road from the caves.
Again at last week’s hearing, Judge
Kellogg told the attorneys he understood why the case against
Lavorante and Ullman is different from the case against the
three other men. “There are two separate factual
scenarios, I understand that very well,” the judge
said.
Kellogg took the unusual step for a bail
judge last month of researching all of the arson and
sheriff’s deputies investigations, and summarizing them
out loud in court. Kellogg said at the time he did that to make
sure he understood exactly what the worst-case scenario of what
happened at the cave was, before allowing the men out on bail.
Although all five could be tried together,
the attorneys said it was likely that the recent Culver City
High School graduates would seek a separate trial from the Los
Angeles trio.
“For [our clients], at the very
worst, this was an act of incaution that had horrible
consequences, that everyone regrets,” said Ben Pesta
II, who represents Lavorante.
The Nov. 24 fire swept down Corral,
Latigo and Escondido canyons in the predawn hours of
a hot and gale-force windy night just after Thanksgiving.
Prosecutors are saying that 55 homes were destroyed,
although the Los Angeles County Fire Department states that it
counted 53 burned-out houses. No official damages
total has been released, but the $100 million figure has
been speculated by officials.
