State v. Thompson

Jerry Wayne Thompson appeals from a judgment convicting him of arson and from an order denying his motions for postconviction relief. The issues are: (1) whether exclusion of evidence of a police officer’s opinion that the conditions under which Thompson lived were such as to justify his temporary detention under the mental health laws denied Thompson the "right to present a defense” to the charge that he intentionally set fire to his apartment; (2) whether the trial court erred in failing to submit a jury instruction on criminal damage to property as a lesser included offense of arson; and…