Northern California wildfire arson suspect testifies, denies wrongdoing
For a second time since May, a Mendocino County man told jurors he accidentally started the 2021 Hopkins Fire that destroyed 30 homes in the town of Calpella and never intended to hurt anyone.
Devin Lamar Johnson, 23, testified Tuesday before a jury of eight men and six women, including two alternates, in his arson trial, which is taking place in Marin County Superior Court.
The proceedings were moved to the San Rafael courthouse after Johnson’s defense attorney successfully convinced a judge to switch the trial to a different venue so that his client would be ensured a fair trial.
This is Johnson’s second trial since May. A mistrial was declared in his first trial after jurors failed to reach a verdict after hearing four days of testimony. His second trial with a new Marin County jury commenced last Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Johnson reiterated his previous testimony from his first trial — that while he did start the 257-acre fire on Sept. 12, 2021, after dropping a cigarette near dry vegetation, his actions were not intentional.
“It fell out of my hands before I could finish it,” he told jurors. “I went to look for it and I couldn’t find it.”
Johnson’s attorney, Dana Liberatore of the Mendocino County Public Defender’s Office, asked Johnson, “Did you light that fire on purpose?”
Johnson replied “no” and said the damage was “devastating.”
Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster challenged Johnson’s response. During Tuesday’s cross examination, Eyster asked Johnson what he recalled of the timeline of events leading up to the fire.
This included when Johnson left his nearby home that afternoon; when he got to a local bar and found the used cigarette he tried to smoke; and when he was outside McFarland Trucking on the dry path where the fire started.
Eyster’s efforts to make Johnson provide more specifics about his actions that day were often met with long pauses, responses of “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember,” or requests from the defendant to repeat his initial question.
Pressing him further, Eyster, who rested the prosecution’s case on Friday, asked why Johnson didn’t call for help after the fire started.
“I didn’t know anyone was there,” Johnson replied.
Eyster pressed on.
“Do you know how to yell?” he asked.
“Yes,” Johnson replied.
“But you chose not to,” Eyster said shortly before wrapping up his cross examination.
Johnson faces 10 years to life in prison if convicted as charged.
Fueled by light wind and temperatures in the 90s, the Hopkins Fire raged through Calpella before it reached a hillside bordering the Russian River and Lake Mendocino.
Flames quickly spread up a 1,000-foot ridge and down to the western shore of Lake Mendocino after destroying 30 homes and other structures.
About 200 people were evacuated from area homes. No injuries were reported.
Johnson was identified as a suspect after he appeared in surveillance footage from a business near where the fire started, investigators said.
The footage from McFarland Trucking, which prosecutors have played in court, shows Johnson coming and going from a wooded trail before smoke develops, investigators said.
Also factoring into Johnson’s arrest, officials said, was an area photographer’s photo that showed Johnson watching the fire from Calpella’s Moore Street Bridge.
Eyster referenced the photo Tuesday, first asking Johnson to verify it was him standing on the bridge.
The defendant confirmed it was him.
Distributed by Tribune News Service.