Arson-

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. James Justin Mack Farrar

Case No.: 2022AP001740-CR

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Gill, JJ.

Focus: Arson-

Farrar appeals a judgment of conviction for arson of a building of another, as a repeater. To convict Farrar of the arson charge, the State needed to prove four elements beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) that Farrar intentionally damaged a building by means of fire; (2) that the building belonged to another person; (3) that Farrar damaged the building without the owner’s consent; and (4) that Farrar knew

that the building belonged to another person and knew that the other person did not consent to the damage of the building. At trial, the only one of these elements that Farrar disputed was the intent element. In particular, the defense conceded that Farrar had caused the fire at the residence but argued that he did so “accidentally” and did not intend to damage the residence. More specifically, defense counsel asserted that the fire was the result of Farrar combining “heavy drinking and being careless with cigarettes.” Farrar argues that the evidence presented at his jury trial was insufficient to support his conviction. The court disagrees with Farrar’s suggestion that an expression of intent was required for the jury to find that he intentionally set the fires at the residence. The evidence introduced at trial, while

circumstantial, was sufficient to support a reasonable inference that Farrar started the fires with the intent to damage the residence.

Affirmed.

Decided 01/23/24

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