Sundlee

Defendant appeals after a jury found him guilty of arson. (Pen. Code, § 448a.)

Fires had been breaking out in the neighborhood of a dam construction site in wooded foothills. Suspicion fell upon defendant, who was employed as a night watchman on the construction job. Defendant had a pickup truck. Thirteen employees of the State Division of Forestry formed a surveillance team in order to watch defendant. They were equipped with walkie-talkie radios; their communications were recorded on cassette tapes. On the night in question members of the team were concealed in the vicinity of the construction yard. Moonlight provided visibility. They saw a truck drive into the yard. They knew it was defendant’s truck. The driver left the truck and walked toward a 6- by 8-foot shed, where he left the observers’ range of vision. About eight minutes later he reappeared and returned to the truck, which was rapidly driven (with headlights off) to a nearby location. The driver got out and walked into the brush, where he was lost to view. Soon there was a loud sharp report and the shed burst into flames. The person emerged from the brush, entered the truck and drove it rapidly past the…