State v. Jones

MilleR, Justice:

Defendants Edwin and Myrna Jones appeal their first degree arson conviction rendered in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County. They claim that at best the State’s evidence shows that they were accessories before the fact, yet the indictment did not charge such offense.

The crime of first degree arson is set out in W.Va. Code, 61-3-1. The defendants contend that in this section the crime of first degree arson encompasses not only the acts of actually setting or aiding the setting of a fire, which would make one liable as a principal in the first or second degree, but also the act…