Two juveniles charged for starting Sevier Co. wildfires

[chances R]

Then you have the allegations of mishandling of the initial fire by the park service, delay and failure of the notification system.  All of this adds up to the dismissal.  I am sure some punishment is in order, but the full weight of the disaster is hard to place totally on the juveniles.

[Chucktshoes]

1 hour ago, Erik88 said:

Sounds like a lot of gossip and wild theories going on in this thread...

 You must be new around these parts.

[Lumber_Jack]

The biggest issue is that there is no way to prove what started the fires that caused fatalities and structure damage. Fires were starting by downed power lines as often and blowing embers so there is no way to say the youths were or weren't responsible for the fire in town. I think there is no doubt they started the Chimney Tops 2 fire.

[bersaguy]

I don't think the kids should do hard time but starting a fire when there is NO BURN  ORDERS all over East Tennessee for fear of just what happened they should have the fear of GOD put in them to not do stupid things again. Maybe stiff harsh probation for about 5 years with a bunch of Community Service helping clean up fire damage areas would be a reasonable sentence..............jmho

[R_Bert]

7 hours ago, Lumber_Jack said:

The biggest issue is that there is no way to prove what started the fires that caused fatalities and structure damage. Fires were starting by downed power lines as often and blowing embers so there is no way to say the youths were or weren't responsible for the fire in town. I think there is no doubt they started the Chimney Tops 2 fire.

And the next big issue is jurisdiction.  The City of Gatlinburg  & Sevier County cannot legally prosecute (that is up to the Feds in the case of the National Park where the fires originated).  It's appears to be a legal lost-cause for the locals.  All the other "stuff" is ancillary if the Feds deem not to prosecute.

[DaveTN]

Neither the city of Gatlinburg nor the County of Sevier would be doing the prosecuting; it would be the state of Tennessee. I would guess the state and the Feds have an arrangement for local law enforcement to enforce state law in the parks. (U.S. Code allows for that)

Also, just because the fires started on the federal property (if they did) that doesn’t mean that surrounding jurisdictions that suffered losses can’t file charges.

But the Feds would have the same problems the state prosecutors had. (Unless of course they had investigators that obtained more evidence than the state had)

[R_Bert]

11 hours ago, DaveTN said:

Neither the city of Gatlinburg nor the County of Sevier would be doing the prosecuting; it would be the state of Tennessee. I would guess the state and the Feds have an arrangement for local law enforcement to enforce state law in the parks. (U.S. Code allows for that)

Also, just because the fires started on the federal property (if they did) that doesn’t mean that surrounding jurisdictions that suffered losses can’t file charges.

But the Feds would have the same problems the state prosecutors had. (Unless of course they had investigators that obtained more evidence than the state had)

 

DaveTN - "I would guess the state and the Feds have an arrangement for local law enforcement to enforce state law in the parks. (U.S. Code allows for that) "

I am afraid that is not the case -

I should have included this in my previous post - http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2017/07/01/gatlinburg-deadly-fire-mystery-who-doctored-prosecution-agreement/444714001/

Thus not only are locals excluded, *The State of TN* can do nothing either.

 

Quote

A failed bid to hold two Anderson County teenagers legally responsible for the state’s deadliest wildfire in a century is sparking a new mystery – who doctored an official agreement between federal and Tennessee governments and why?

Aggravated arson charges against the boys, ages 17 and 15, were dropped Friday in part because 4th Judicial District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn did not have authority under a 1997 agreement between the state and federal government to prosecute crimes committed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The park was left out of the 1997 agreement, which granted both state and federal authorities the power to prosecute crimes committed on federal lands within Tennessee. That meant only federal authorities could level charges for crimes committed in the park. That omission was discovered during Dunn’s attempt to prosecute the boys.

 

Edited July 2, 2017 by R_Bert

[DaveTN]

Yep, U.S. Code allows for that, but it requires an agreement. Sounds like someone didn’t do their job and is now trying to keep it quiet.

[Ray Z]

I've heard this BS before.

• It's the wind's fault                                                                    It's the gun's fault
• They were only juveniles                                                            It's the fault of the store that sold the gun
• Should the prosecution be done by the state, or feds, or local?       Let's just sue the gun manufacture. It had to be their fault

Shall I go on? Talk is that they could be charged as adults. That means they had to be 16, or so. They're act destroyed over 1700 structures, cost untold millions in revenue to thousands of businesses, not to mention the deaths they caused. Should we do what any good liberal would do and slap them on the back of the hand? Oh!, we should pity the poor juveniles. BULLSH&*. Let's see some good old American justice here.