Client fell asleep briefly after putting food on the stove and woke up to find his house on fire, firefighters came and rescued him, and a short time later, he was charged by the police with 'prefectural building arson' and came to our law firm complaining that he was being investigated by the police.
Case Issues
The client had a history of frequent 112 calls, such as 'I'm going to kill myself', and had a history of attempted arson of a building and obstruction of public administration, so the police strongly suspected that the client had committed suicide or attempted self-harm.
The client was on probation at the time, so if he was found guilty of arson, which is a statutory offense that only provides for imprisonment, he was facing a prison sentence, and his probation would also be revoked, meaning he would have to serve a double sentence.
Troubleshooting
We helped our client to give a very specific account of his actions before falling asleep and the circumstances leading up to his waking up and waiting for rescue, and pointed out the possible errors in the fire forensics results, strongly advocating that the crime should be changed to "arson," which is only punishable by a fine.
In the end, the investigating agency accepted the defense's arguments and changed the charge to "true story," and he made a good plea defense at the first trial, receiving a small fineand the client was able to return to his normal life.
