Scott v. State, 1 Div. 864

• Decision Date: 14 May 1985
• Docket Number: 1 Div. 864
• Citation: 473 So.2d 1167
• Parties: John Paul SCOTT v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 1167

473 So.2d 1167

John Paul SCOTT v. STATE.

1 Div. 864.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

May 14, 1985.

Rehearing Denied June 11, 1985.

Certiorari Denied Aug. 23, 1985

Alabama Supreme Court 84-1013.

Paul D. Brown, Mobile, for appellant.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Fred F. Bell, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

TAYLOR, Judge.

The appellant, John Paul Scott, was convicted of arson in the second degree for the burning of his house and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. The fire spread to two neighboring houses, for the burning of which he was also convicted of arson in the first degree and second degree, and sentenced to thirty years' and ten years' imprisonment, respectively, with all sentences running concurrently.

I

After having spent the preceding seven days in jail, on July 6, 1982, eighteen year old Harry Olsen was arraigned on charges of theft of property and forgery. Bail totalled $3,000, which he could not afford. During a recess of court, Harry's mother was sitting in the hallway when she was approached by the appellant, whom she testified she had never seen before. He told her that he had helped parents before by getting their "children" out on bond. He was always paid back by the child's doing odd jobs for him. She testified the appellant told her to "just wait over here for a few minutes[,] he'd go around the corner and see what he could do." A few minutes later, "he come back around and he said he had gotten Harry off, that everything would be all right." After Harry's release several hours later, the appellant told the mother that he would take Harry home, that "he wanted to speak to him about some work that he had for him."

Harry also testified that the appellant was a total stranger. Nevertheless, Harry accompanied his benefactor in the latter's customized, red and black Ford pick-up truck. While enroute to the appellant's home, the appellant told Harry about having been recently released from the hospital, having been burned when his car burned:

"He said he pulled down a dirt road and he pulled the hood up on his car and he poured gas on the motor and lit it on fire and give it enough time to where it could burn, and he poured gasoline on his arm to make it look as if the car had exploded."

The appellant explained to Harry that he had set fire to both the car and his arm so that he could file an insurance claim, which had already been done. Thereafter, the appellant began "telling me what he really wanted me to do to be able to pay him back for him getting me out of jail":

"Q Now, at the time he got you out of jail and you were introduced to him, you understood you were going to have to do something for him to pay him back, didn't you?

"A That's correct. But the intentions he give me [sic] was for me to do the kind of work that I'm familiary with, like painting, yard work on his house [sic].

"Q So, after he had told you that he burned his car and himself for insurance purposes, what did he tell you that he really wanted you to do.

"A He wanted me to burn his house to be able to pay him back.

"Q To burn his house?

"A Yes, that's correct.

"Q Not to paint it but to burn it.

"A Right.

"Q And did he tell you why he wanted you to burn it?

"A For insurance 'cause he said his insurance was fixing to be canceled out on the 15th of that month.

"Q Now, did you discuss any of the details about how he wanted you to burn the house while you were on the way to his house?

"A Yeah. He was basically filling me in about what I would say to his wife before we had got there to make it look as if I was a professional at this.

"....

"Q Had you ever done anything like this before?

"A Never.

"Q But he wanted his wife to think that you were a professional arsonist?

"A Right.

"Q Well, what did he tell you to do in order to appear to be a professional arsonist?

"A Basically he wanted me to know the amount of the gas. That's about all I can recall.

"....

"Q What did he say about how he wanted it done?

"A Well, he was telling me about how they would have the back door and basically everything for me and all I would have to do was just come and do what I was supposed to do my part [sic] and he would already have everything ready to make it [look] as if someone broke in like and stole half of his stuff and made [sic] it look as if it was, I guess, an enemy of his had done it."

After they arrived at the appellant's house and Harry was introduced to Mrs. Scott, the appellant and Mrs. Scott commenced explaining how the house would be set-up, as reflected in Harry's following testimony:

"A Well, he was basically showing me around, showing that they would have everything like tore up, drawers open, showing me where the back door would be ajarred [sic] open and they would have the back swinging gate with two bricks in front of it where it would already be open to access for me to get into the back.

"....

"A Well, we, she showed me in the one room where three pieces of carpet would have to be laid down on the floor because in that one room it was brick, and they showed me where the three pieces of carpet would be laying and they would have some magazine paper rolled up and put in a weave basket next to the door, the back door, and they would have a stereo, stereo table, excuse me, pushed up away from the door as if I was to break in from that door and didn't know there was a stereo table sitting there and I would push it out of my way as I was opening the door.

"Q Was this then to look like a burglary"

"A Correct."

The appellant advised Harry that, if Mrs. Scott should ask, to tell her that twenty gallons of gasoline would be needed. He also said that when Harry came to start the fire, he would have already soaked gasoline throughout the house. There would be a thirty-gallon garbage can in the living room with one gallon of gasoline remaining in it, and for Harry to pour that gasoline on the three pieces of carpet to be put down on the brick floor in the den. Harry should then take the magazine papers that would be rolled up and located in a basket next to the door, place them end-to-end leading out the door and into the yard, and then light the last piece of paper.

The appellant advised Harry that he would need a driver, someone who would "bring me and drop me off." Evidently, the appellant had previously arranged to have his stepson be the driver for the arsonist, because while Harry was with Mr. and Mrs. Scott, her son called and she began arguing with him on the phone. She was upset because the "son was raising a fit about what he should get out of the deal" (he wanted the washer and dryer for himself and old machinery put in their place), and "because he had got some other stuff before," so she decided she no longer wanted her son involved.

Regarding the appellant's stepson, the appellant and his wife told Harry that they had been previously unsuccessful in burning down their house.

"They said that they had tried to burn it for insurance purposes at one time and they failed to do it--Well, excuse me. He had his [step]son try to do it and he come in the first evening and tried it and he left and he came back and found out it didn't burn the first time so he approached it again the second evening and tried again and failed. And he came back by the next evening, which was the next day, and tried again and failed."

Because they were not successful in completely burning down their house, they used the insurance money to remodel it.

On Thursday evening, July 8, 1982, the appellant picked up Harry so they could review the procedures, and planned on getting together again the next night.

Harry testified that on Friday evening, he was to drive to the appellant's house and stop on the way and get some boxes. He stated that he did not get any boxes, and upon arrival at the appellant's house, there were boxes packed in the living room and dining room. He also noticed that four guns were missing from the gun cabinet. Harry was told by the appellant that he and Mrs. Scott would be staying at his daughter's, and to start the fire around 2 a.m. Sunday morning. Everything was positioned the way Harry had been told it would be, i.e., the carpets, magazine papers, matches, and stereo table were in place, all except for the gasoline.

Harry testified that that Friday evening he rode with the appellant to Bubba's Service Station, where the appellant pumped some gasoline into a red five-gallon gas can. While there, Harry spoke to his best friend's mother who happened to be there.

Harry testified that as the scheduled time approached, he began having second thoughts; however, he said, he also thought that if he did not burn down the appellant's house as the appellant planned, the appellant would "come off the bond," thus sending Harry back to jail. Therefore, at 1:45 a.m., Harry drove past the house, checking to see if anyone was around and then parked a block away. He walked to the mail box and, as instructed by the appellant, put in it a note which was written with letters cut from a magazine, saying, "Now, move out, damn you." The purpose of the letter was to make the arson appear to have been done by an "enemy" of the appellant.

Harry entered the back yard and then the house. Again, everything was positioned as had been planned, only this time there was an odor of gasoline present and the thirty-gallon trash can was on the living room floor with the one gallon of gasoline in it. As instructed, he used a one-and-a-half-quart pot in the trash can to pour the remaining gasoline on the three pieces of carpet laid on the brick floor in the den. Harry then laid the papers on the ground leading from the door, except that he used just three pages instead of five as the appellant had instructed. He again hesitated, then lit a page and dropped it. The ground around him immediately caught fire, with the flames extending completely up over his head. Harry's clothes were also on fire. The fire instantly led to...