You probably know that intentionally burning someone else’s property is illegal in Utah, but you can also get in trouble if it’s an accident. It’s a crime called reckless burning. If you’re charged, you could wind up behind bars if you don’t have the proper defense strategy.
To understand reckless burning in Utah, it’s important to understand the legal definition for “reckless.” Here’s the exact wording in the Utah codes:
“[A person engages in conduct] Recklessly with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he is aware of but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur.”
In other words, you didn’t intend to commit a crime. However, you knew about the risks of what you were doing, but you ignored them.
Under Utah law, there are a few possible scenarios that would get you a reckless burning charge. In each of these scenarios you would know what the risks are, but you ignore them, and you didn’t do it intentionally:
Let’s say you start a fire or cause an explosion, and you’re being “reckless” according to Utah’s definition. You don’t endanger human life, and you do everything you can make sure it doesn’t spread. You raise an alarm, you spray water over the fire, and you try removing flammable materials around it. However, despite your best efforts, the fire causes damage to someone else’s property. If this happens, the penalty depends on how much money in damage you caused:
If your reckless actions with a fire end up in widespread injury or property damage, you may face another charge on top of reckless burning — causing a catastrophe. This is a class A misdemeanor, and that can be stacked on top of the other reckless burning charge. If you get found guilty on both counts, the judge may sentence you to a certain amount of time for one of the charges and some time for the other.
However, that’s not where your legal troubles end. If you’re convicted for causing a catastrophe, the court is legally required to order you to reimburse any relevant person, entity, business, organization, or government for the amount of money that it cost to respond to the catastrophe. This means you may have to pay thousands or even millions of dollars. The court can make an exception if it states reasons that this reimbursement wouldn’t be appropriate.
If you intentionally cause damage using either fire or explosives, you can get in even more trouble. The crime in this case is either arson or aggravated arson.
Like certain instances of reckless burning, the penalty for arson depends on the amount of damage it causes. The least amount possible — under $500 — is a class B misdemeanor. If you damage more than $5,000 worth of property, that is a second-degree felony, which means one to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Aggravated arson is when you intentionally burn down either a habitable structure or another kind of structure that contains a person. This is a first-degree felony, which means five years to life in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
If you’re charged with reckless burning, one route your lawyer might take is prove that you weren’t actually acting recklessly. At the worst, you were acting with criminal negligence. This means that you should have been aware of the risks, but you were not.
For example, let’s say you were building a fire in the middle of the woods. You had done it before, but that was during the wet season, when there was not as much risk. This time, you started a fire during the dry season, and you weren’t aware that there were restrictions, even though signs were posted. Then the fire spreads and destroys someone else’s property. If your lawyer can prove that you were unaware of the risks, then you might be able to avoid conviction.
If you’re arrested and charged wtih reckless burning, make sure you do not talk with any police or prosecutors until you have hired an attorney who can help you through the legal process. If you say the wrong thing, that can really hurt your case.
A competent attorney will coach you though what you should and should not say, but they do a lot more than that. They also help you come up with your overal legal strategy based on your situation. That may mean you try to fight the charges. However, if the state has overwhelming evidence against you, a lawyer will understand that and work with prosecutors to get you a good plea deal.
Your lawyer is someone who is knowledgable about the legal process, is on your side, and is working to get you the best outcome possible.
When you choose the right attorney, you want someone with a lot of experience. This means they have learned everything they need, so they can defend you with competence. All of the attorneys at Brown, Bradshaw & Moffat have been practicing the law for years, and they would be happy to help you out.
Tell us about your case to get started, and one of our team members will reach out to you.
