Powers

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 23-2218 D.C. No. Plaintiff - Appellee, 3:23-cr-08027-

MTL-

v.

OPINION

PHILIP ALEJANDRO POWERS III,

AKA Philip Alejandro Powers III,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Michael T. Liburdi, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted October 22, 2024 Phoenix, Arizona

Filed February 24, 2025

Before: Milan D. Smith, Jr., Bridget S. Bade, and Danielle J. Forrest, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Bade SUMMARY *

Criminal Law

The panel affirmed (1) Philip A. Powers III’s convictions, following a bench trial before a magistrate judge, on seven misdemeanor counts arising from his setting three fires in national forests (the “Taylor Fire,” the “Sycamore Fire,” and the “Sycamore 2 Fire”); and (2) an order of restitution. Powers argued that the magistrate judge erred in refusing to apply the necessity defense to acquit him of the charges. A district judge affirmed the magistrate judge’s conclusion that the necessity defense did not apply. The panel held that because Powers…