People v. West

On August 8, 1990, a fire destroyed the Fash-n-Fab buildings owned by defendant Dwight West. A firefighter was injured while attempting to extinguish the blaze. Following a bench trial, defendant was convicted of five counts of arson and one count of aggravated arson, and he was sentenced to four and six years’ imprisonment on the respective charges. Defendant argues that: (1) the court erred in admitting into evidence photographs of the crime scene; (2) the court’s findings of fact are not supported by the evidence; and (3) the court improperly conducted deliberations prior to defendant…