Tulare man is charged in a forest fire that led to deaths of pilot, firefighter
By Tim Bragg
The Fresno Bee
VISALIA, Calif. - A Tulare County judge delayed the arraignment Monday of a Tulare man charged with setting September forest fires that led to the deaths of two men piloting an observation plane that crashed while battling the blazes.
Patrick Ryan Courtney, 29, didn’t say a word as he appeared before Judge Stephen Drew at the Tulare County Pre-Trial Facility courtroom.
Drew postponed the arraignment until today.
Visalia attorney John Jackson said Courtney’s family was trying to retain him as Courtney’s lawyer, but he said he couldn’t comment on the case because arrangements haven’t been finalized.
Courtney is charged with two counts of murder, arson causing a forest fire and several special charges in connection with several small forest fires set on and around Labor Day weekend near the Mountain Home State Demonstration Forest.
He remains in custody without bail.
A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spotter plane directing fire ground crews battling the fires crashed Sept. 6, killing Visalian Rob Stone, a CDF battalion chief, and contract pilot George “Sandy” Willet of Hanford.
California law allows someone to be tried for murder if the person participates in a crime that causes someone else’s death, even if the person was not directly involved in causing the death, said Tim Ward, a supervising deputy district attorney.
Ward declined to comment on the case Monday, saying aspects of it remain under investigation. CDF officials didn’t return calls Monday.
Although he couldn’t comment on how the District Attorney’s Office would prosecute the Courtney case, Ward acknowledged that arson cases sometimes present a challenge to prosecutors.
“They are crimes that occur in remote areas with no witnesses,” he said.
In addition to the murder and arson charges, Courtney faces special charges that include having two previous serious felonies or “strikes” on his record, which Ward said were attempted murder and burglary. He also faces a special allegation of causing great bodily injury to a firefighter.
The charges could lead to a sentence of 50 years to life in prison if Courtney is convicted, Ward said.
Courtney was sentenced to nine years in prison in 1996 and paroled in 2002, according to the California Department of Corrections. He was discharged from parole in December, according to the CDC.