what are the charges for arson?

Question

I live in New York i'm still under 18 and whatnot. so heres the story, a group of friends and i get tickets for trespass in a park after hours, but at the same time a rumor of a fire at a camping place was going around and fire fighters come to extinguish it.

my group of friends and i were near the place of fire when we got the tickets but we did not set the fire. though we did not have anything to do with the fire, the fire marshal wants to press charges on us for arson/attempted arson because we were around the area of when it happened

so my questions are: what proof does the marshal have against us when we had nothing to do with the fire and the fact that we were only charged with trespass?
:what are the charges if the marshal does convict us?

it's been 3 months since i got the trespass ticket
and was wondering what the marshal can do if we weren't charged of arson at the time?

and one more thing, the park was not damaged and nobody was hurt

so i can still be charged with felony, despite the fact that i had nothing to do with the arson?

Answer 1

ask a criminal defence attorney.

seeing one does not imply guilt, it's a basic citizen's right.

not sure of NY rates, but around here, 100 dollars will get an hour's chat and would be worth it to help get yourself in the clear.

Answer 2

okay son, not meant to be offending or anything. listen, first you are charged with trespass by the officers. thats okay that is minor. no sweat pay the fine and be done with it. however charges of arson are much more serious. you have these charges to contend with---attempted arson, arson, attempted assualt with the intent to inflict serious bodily harm, assualt with the intent to inflict serious bodily harm, attemtpted murder in the first degree, attempted second degeree murder, attempted malicious wounding, malicious wound, -----those are the most serious of the charges. I don't want to be mean or try to scare you but you are looking at something very serious that will affect you for the rest of your life. those are only some of the choices the fire marshall has to come after you.first thing you need to do, son, is contact a lawyer in your area. you need to have the full protection of the law. another thing the fire marshall might try to use is DNA evidence left at the scene. he just hasn't gotten it back yet because those are some very involved tests. if he get the results back and comes after you make sure your attorney challenges every lab report he submits and makes the lab defend its testing procedure. but make damn sure you get a lawer now and don't wait until you are charged with something more serious. it might be too late then. good luck son and best of wishes for you.

Answer 3

it will all depend on the fire marshall and any other authorities in the jurisdiction. The fire marshall can make an arrest anytime after arson is suspected, and the local authorities will also be notified. It will also depend on the collaboration of the authorities and the final indictment may come from a judge or a jury. Just depends on how the legal system will go about it.

Answer 4

Arson with intent to indanger life I think could fetch around 5 years in prison maybe more.

Answer 5

Ask your parents to contact a lawyer for a consultation. Sometimes this can be free or very inexpensive for 30 minutes of his time. You probably don't have anything to worry about, but it pays to be save.

Answer 6

5 years hard time with a girlfriend named bubba

Answer 7

Wy don't you get your own copy of the NY penal code?I have afeeling you will be referring to it quite often during your lifetime/

Answer 8

Time for a lawyer.

Answer 9

one black mark on you and your friends,
and they always say "we didn't do it"
can you say felony

Answer 10

it's a felony.