The Ukiah Daily Journal, Calif.
(TNS)
Aug. 1—A guilty verdict was reached Thursday morning in the second trial of a man accused of setting a fire that burned about 50 structures and evacuated hundreds of residents from an area just north of Ukiah three years ago.
Testimony concluded Wednesday afternoon in the second trial of Devin Lamar Johnson, 23, in Marin County Superior Court, and at 11 a.m. Thursday, the jury reportedly returned with a verdict of "guilty of arson with a multiple structure enhancement." Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 16 in Marin County.
The first trial of Johnson ended in a mistrial May 30 because of a hung jury, which was deadlocked after the prosecution's case was presented by Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Heidi Larson.
When the second trial began July 24, District Attorney David Eyster was at the helm, and at least one person in the audience was moved by his opening remarks.
"Eyster began by saying that a miracle occurred on Sept. 19, 2021 — a miracle because no one was injured or killed when 30 homes were destroyed," recalled Ukiah resident Erin Gardiner, who has attended both trials because her husband, freelance photographer Peter Armstrong, has been called to testify each time about the photo he took the day of the fire that is believed to show Johnson standing on the Moore Street Bridge watching the fire he is accused of setting rage through Calpella.
UVFA Battalion Chief Justin Buckingham, who investigated the cause of the fire and testified at the first trial in May, said Wednesday afternoon that "the case was given to the jury around 3 p.m. ( July 31), and there was no verdict by 5 p.m."
The case was moved to Marin County after a trial briefly began in Mendocino County early last year, but soon after jury selection began in January of 2023, Judge Keith Faulder approved a change of venue for Johnson's trial.
Johnson was arrested two days after allegedly starting the Hopkins Fire on Sept. 19, 2021, after investigators from multiple agencies, including the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, Cal Fire and the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, had obtained surveillance footage from a nearby business that showed an adult man starting the fire on Hopkins Street near the Moore Street Bridge in Calpella.
According to the MCSO, Johnson was on "active, felony probation for an attempted robbery charge" at the time of his arson arrest, and was booked into Mendocino County Jail on suspicion of "three separate charges of arson: aggravated arson (multiple structures), arson of an inhabited structure, and arson during a state of emergency."
Originally Published: August 1, 2024 at 1:39 p.m.
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