After a choose determined there was sufficient proof for Jason Pastime to face a first-degree arson cost in reference to the Alexander Mountain Fireplace, his attorneys stated they deliberate to attraction the ruling to the Colorado Supreme Courtroom. The choice was introduced throughout a listening to Wednesday in eighth Judicial District Courtroom in Fort Collins.
Pastime, 50, was arrested Sept. 10, 2024 in connection to the Alexander Mountain Fireplace, which was first reported July 29 and burned 10,000 acres west of Loveland. He’s going through prices of first-degree arson, a category 3 felony; two counts of impersonating a peace officer, a category 5 felony; false imprisonment, a category 5 felony; menacing with an actual or simulated weapon, a category 5 felony; and impersonating a public servant, a category 2 misdemeanor, in keeping with court docket information.
Decide Sarah Remedy made her resolution that there was possible trigger after a two-part preliminary listening to, held July 31 and Oct. 8, the place the court docket heard from Loveland Police Division Detective Justin Atwood, who was an investigator with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Workplace on the time, and U.S. Forest Service Particular Agent Hannah Nadeau about their involvement within the investigation.
The fireplace, which was determined by Nadeau to have began at a horseshoe formed hearth pit, burned components of the Sylvan Dale Ranch and over a thousand acres the ranch’s homeowners had been planning on donating to the Coronary heart-J Middle for Experimental Studying, a plan investigators had been informed Pastime was in opposition to. Pastime was employed as a safety officer on the ranch till he was eliminated in July 2024 after repeated incidents with different employees members and coworkers.
“Mr. Pastime made statements to quite a lot of folks a few motive to burn and destroy the property and constructions owned by the Coronary heart-J Middle and Sylvan Dale Ranch,” prosecution legal professional Erin Butler stated Oct. 8. “Particularly that the property ought to burn fairly than get transferred from Sylvan Dale into the Coronary heart-J Middle.”
Investigators found that Pastime had represented himself as a firefighter, regardless of having no formal credentials. Pastime labored for the Southwest Incident Command Staff in the course of the hearth, however not in a firefighting capability, Atwood stated, fairly aiding with communications and fridges for hearth crews.
When questioned by the protection, Atwood stated, “Anyone may have began this hearth,” and testified that boot prints discovered on the scene could not be decided by specialists to match Pastime’s. Nadeau stated the hearth needed to have been attributable to a human or hearth beginning system. Investigators did discover matches and pyro putty in Pastime’s residence, however when questioned by protection, Atwood stated that having incendiary gadgets is “only one factor” that goes into accusing somebody of arson. Pyro putty is a water-resistant hearth starter.
“The knowledgeable witness couldn’t say that this was incendiary, or whether or not it was only a camper who recklessly allowed a campfire to flee from them,” protection legal professional Leslie Goldstein stated Oct. 8.
In her order relating to the preliminary listening to, Remedy wrote that the court docket is required to view proof introduced in “the sunshine most favorable to the prosecution,” including that they launched proof that the hearth didn’t begin of pure causes and will have been intentional, regardless that an incendiary system was not discovered on the scene. She added that the prosecution introduced proof that Pastime was aware of the location, had conflicts with folks on the Sylvan Dale Ranch, and was in a rush to get to Wyoming across the begin of the hearth, together with different causes.
She did acknowledge that the protection supplied “compelling arguments that forged doubt on the defendant’s involvement,” referring to Atwood and Nadeau’s lack of information in components of the case, together with not figuring out whether or not the hearth was intentional, an escaped campfire, or when the hearth really started (Nadeau decided it may have started at any level July 27 to July 29), however finally stated the protection’s doubt was primarily based on disputes of reality, and that she should contemplate all “affordable inferences within the gentle most favorable to the prosecution.”
Pastime’s lawyer, Mark Savoy, stated that he needed to ensure the case is heard by the Supreme Courtroom earlier than trial.
As soon as the attraction is filed with the Supreme Courtroom, the panel of judges may resolve to not take Pastime’s case or give deference to Remedy’s resolution. If that happens, Pastime will return to court docket in Fort Collins and proceed to trial if an settlement isn’t met sooner.
If the Supreme Courtroom guidelines that Remedy abused her discretion in her order, then the case may even come again to the courtroom, however the first-degree arson cost will likely be dismissed because of a scarcity of possible trigger, stated protection legal professional Matt Pring after the listening to Wednesday. In that case, Pastime’s remaining prices may very well be settled in a plea deal or in trial.
A standing convention is scheduled for Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. for updates within the case, however it could be some time earlier than outcomes of the Supreme Courtroom attraction are recognized.
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