People v. V.V.

Opinion

CHIN, J.

In this case, V.V. and J.H., minors, set off a firecracker on a brush-covered hillside in Pasadena, causing a fire that burned five acres of forest land. At a combined adjudicatory hearing, the juvenile court determined that V.V. and J.H. had committed arson. The court found that, although they did not intend to set the hillside on fire, the evidence satisfied the mental state required for arson.

In V.V.’s case, the Court of Appeal affirmed the juvenile court’s order, finding that the evidence sufficiently established the requisite mental state of malice because V.V.…