State v. Ms. V (DMC No. 18116) – Felony Arson, and Felony Child Abuse – Not Charged/”Turned Down” by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and “Unsubstantiated” by the Arizona Department of Child Safety – Buckeye Police Department Investigated (IR No. 20XX-XXXXXX5) and DCS Investigated (Case No. 5XXXXX-XXXXXXO)
Ms. V lived in Buckeye with her husband and four children. Two of them were autistic, and one of them was nonverbal. While making breakfast one morning, she smelled smoke and assumed something might be on fire near their dryer in their garage. When she opened the door to the garage, black smoke was pouring out and she realized her house was on fire.
She immediately yelled for the kids to get out of the house, and she called 911. Her husband was upstairs with two of the kids, and came running down so they could all escape. While in the front yard, they were yelling for the Fire Department to hurry up, because the fire station happened to back up to their house.
When the Buckeye Fire Department had arrived, they asked if everyone was outside of the house, and Ms. V’s husband appeared to be very flat and calm. He stated he thought everyone was out of the house. When the firemen ran in, they saw the boy standing next to the couch just staring straight ahead at one of the walls. This was one of their children who was autistic and nonverbal. They grabbed the boy and got everyone out of the house.
A couple of days later, a Detective received two anonymous calls. One was from a male who stated that he had done some work at the house a couple weeks previous, with another contractor. He claimed that the other contractor overheard Ms. V’s husband stating that his life was “miserable” with the autistic kids, and he just wanted to “get out”. A second anonymous call came in from a man who stated that he was a neighbor, though “always had a weird and eerie feeling about these people”. In other words, rumors were going around the neighborhood that Ms. V and her husband had started this fire.
Based on these calls, the Detective referred the case over to the Department of Child Safety, and he also continued a fire investigation for Arson, and for Child Abuse. Once DCS contacted Ms. V, that’s when she secured the services of DM Cantor.
Once we became involved, we told the Detective that we were representing Ms. V. We also secured an Independent Fire Examiner to review the Buckeye Fire Department’s Arson Investigation. In their own Investigation, they stated that the “ignition source could be human and cannot be ruled out at this time”. They also stated that there was an electrical fixture installed after the house was built and “it cannot be ruled out as the ignition source of this fire”. Even though there was conflicting information, the Detectives still routed the case for Charging over to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for Arson and Child Abuse.
We put together a complete packet regarding all of the information and showing that Ms. V was not responsible for the fire, or Child Abuse. Ultimately, the Deputy Maricopa County Attorney reviewing the case decided to “Turn Down” charges. In addition, the DCS investigator “Unsubstantiated” the allegations of Abuse. If Ms. V had been Charged and Convicted of these crimes, she very well could have gone to Prison for more than Ten Years. Instead, she has No Criminal Record and is married and raising her children to this day.
