Opinion
No. 3-405 / 02-1515
Filed August 13, 2003
Appeal from the Iowa District Court forDickinson County, Frank B. Nelson, Judge.
Larry Larson appeals his conviction for second-degree arson. AFFIRMED.
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and James Tomka, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Thomas Tauber, Assistant Attorney General, and Rosalise Olson, County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., and Huitink and Vogel, JJ.
Larry Larson appeals, claiming his conviction for second-degree arson, in violation of Iowa Code sections 712.1 and 712.3 (1999), is not supported by substantial evidence. We review this claim for correction of errors at law. State v. Speicher, 625 N.W.2d 738, 740 (Iowa 2001). Upon our review of the record, we conclude substantial evidence supports the conviction. Although no one personally witnessed Larson setting Christine Wheeler's trailer ablaze and no accelerant was detected by investigators, the entirety of the evidence clearly supports the jury's finding that Larson set the trailer on fire, intending to damage or destroy it. See State v. Boley, 456 N.W.2d 674, 679 (Iowa 1990) (circumstantial and direct evidence are equally probative). In particular, we note that on numerous occasions Larson threatened to burn Wheeler's home and had actually started at least two prior fires in her trailer. On the night of this fire police were called due to a fight between Larson and Wheeler. Later, a neighbor witnessed Larson return to the then-empty trailer and within two minutes of Larson leaving the trailer, saw flames shooting out from the trailer. We find substantial evidence supports the conviction and therefore affirm.