NEAFC 32nd Annual Conference.pdf - New England Association of ...

NEw ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CI-IIEFS
Under Common Law, the crime o1~ Arson was well defined by Blackstone
as ’~the malicious and wilt?ul burning ot? the house of another," but since that
time, an avalanche ot? statutes has overwhelmed this definition, .so that its
;ormer scope is interesting only in a historical sense. Where it was originally
confined to dwellings and nearby buildings, it is now extended to all manner
of structures, etc. Where it t?ormerly protected only the. habitation ot? man,
it now covers personal property and even crops.
Once, it was limited to burning the house ot? another, and now, one may
be convicted if he burns his own property. Arson has always, been regarded
by the law as a heinous and most aggravated offense, for not only does. it
endanger human life and the security of habitation’s, but it evidences a moral
recklessness and depravity in the perpetrator. The offense is. marked with the
most deliberate and atrocious malice. It is. not perpetrated in the heat of
passion, but coolly and stealthily, and without any view of pecuniary gain, and
the consequences are such as no mind which is not utterly hardened and depraved,
can even contemplate with complacency.
"The crime of Arson is one ot? the most heinous in all the catalogue."
Blackstone ingeniously compares Arson with murder and indicates.
preferential regard t?or the murderer.
"This is an offense of very great malignity,-and much more destructive to
the public than simple theft, because:
"1. It is an offense against that right of habitation; which is acquired
by the law of nature, as well as by the law of society;
"2. Because of the terror and confusion that necessarily attend it; and,
¯ "3. Lastly, because in simple theft, the thing stolen-only changes its
master, but still remains in use for the benefit of the public, whereas by buming,
the very substance is destroyed."
It is als0 frequently more destructive than murder itseif, of which, too,
it is often the cause, since murder, atrocious as it is, seldom extends beyond
the ;elonious act designed, whereas fire too frequently involves, in the common
calamity persons unknown to the incendiary, and not intended to be hurt by
him, and friends, as well as enemies.. It. was. a capital offense until more
lenient statutes were reinacted in the 19th Century.
Arson, burning to defraud the insurer, and reii~d Crim~s,are most
generally, if not invariably, committed under the cover of darkness., at times
and in a manner calculated to divert suspicion, and where no living being
other than the criminal himself or those who are acting in concert with
him can be present as eye witnesses, ihereto. In such cases, it is. almost invariably
true that the detection and conviction of the criminal must be based
on circumstantial evidence, at least in part.
A learned author once said, and I quote:
"Circumstances! are invincible proofs.. They will not bend to the
inclination of parties. Witnesses may be mistaken, may be corrupted;
things can do rieither~ and therefore, so far as they do, deserve unlimited,
unreserved faith. Circumstances cannot lie."
Where presumption necessarily arises from circumstances, it is more
convincing and satisfactory proof than any other kind of evidence because facts
cannot lie.
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