Is it necessary for the prosecution to rule out all possible or imaginary causes of a fire to prove arson?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Scott, F062914 (Cal. App. 2012):

It is not necessary for "the prosecution to rule out all possible or imaginary causes of the fire[]" to prove the corpus delicti of arson. (People v. Andrews (1965) 234 Cal.App.2d 69, 74.) "When related to the crime of arson, the word 'malice' denotes nothing more than a deliberate and intentional firing of a building, or other defined structure, as contrasted with an accidental or unintentional ignition thereof; in short, a fire

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