United States v. Jack Carl Velte, United States of America v. Jack Carl Velte

We must decide whether an individual who, as determined by a jury, purposefully set fire to a national forest, is nonetheless entitled to acquittal of the offense of setting fire to federal land “without authority.”

I

On July 22, 2000, a fire was set in the Cleveland National Forest that consumed a large tract of land before it was finally extinguished. The first officer on the scene was Deputy Sheriff McClendon who testified that he was on patrol nearby when he observed smoke. Upon approaching the scene of the fire, McClendon saw Jack Carl Velte sitting behind the wheel of a vehicle in a clearing near the flames. Based upon its size and the fact that it was still growing, McClendon con- eluded that the fire had been burning for only a short period of time.

McClendon approached Velte and asked whether he started the fire, to which Velte responded, “I don’t think so.” Upon further questioning by McClendon, Velte speculated that the fire could have been started by a spark off a rock, by the cigarette that he had been smoking, or by someone else. McClendon, who by this point was already suspicious of Velte, then noticed a dirt or sand substance on the knees of his pants and that…