Judge Orders Two of the Five Suspects Charged with Starting the Corral Wildfire to Stand Trial

• Contingent of Locals at Proceedings

BY ANNE SOBLE

Two of the five men charged with causing the 2007 Corral Canyon wildfire that destroyed 53 homes, damaged another two dozen structures and injured six firefighters were ordered to stand trial by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Leslie Dunn last Thursday.
Dunn determined that there was sufficient evidence to order Brian Alan Anderson, 23, and William Thomas Coppock, 24, to trial on counts of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury and endangering inhabited structures.
The two Los Angeles residents, who are currently free on their own recognizance, are due back in court Jan. 29 for arraignment.
The complaint by Deputy District Attorney Ann Ambrose also alleges that the crimes were committed during and within an area declared a state of emergency.
Beverly Taki, the organizer of Operation Recovery, a support group of fire victims and other residents in the Corral Canyon area, told the Malibu Surfside News that the “group’s members are thrilled with this outcome and look forward to continued justice being served.”
Operation Recovery is urging its members to send letters to Judge Dunn, recommending the maximum possible punishment. Seven members of the group sat in the courtroom last week, a silent reminder of the fire’s toll.
Corral residents say that there will be as large a contingent of them as possible at every step of the legal process for all five men.
The group also hopes to obtain restraining orders to prevent any of the men convicted of a part in the wildfire from being able to go into the Corral area or the Santa Monica Mountains.
Since the State of California, which owns the land on which the fire was stated, still has not adequately closed it off to illegal activity, neighbors have organized private patrols to try to prevent partying and other behavior in the so-called rave cave at the top of the canyon that could result in another conflagration.
Anderson, Coppock, and a third Los Angeles man, Brian David Franks, 28, were originally charged together. Franks, who has been deemed less culpable by the evidence, has agreed to testify against the other two men.
Franks pleaded no contest in October and is slated for sentencing on Jan. 26. He faces probation and community service.
The other two of the five men, Eric Matthew Ullman, 19, and Dean Allen Lavorante, 20, both residents of Culver City, are expected to learn whether they also will be ordered to stand trial on the same charges on Feb. 26.
According to testimony to date, Ullman and Lavorante started a campfire in the cave, which was subsequently taken over by the three L.A. men, who increased its size and allowed it to go out of control, then made no effort to report that brush in the area was starting to burn as strong Santa Ana winds battered the area.
OR member Aya Yoshida wrote in an initial summation for the group that she “felt the defense lawyers’ desperation when they rephrased questions multiple times in an attempt to get the answers that they wanted, or asked bizarre questions like, “Wouldn’t you say it was dark at night?”—while the deputy sheriff [who was on the witness stand] opened his eyes in amazement.”
The Nov. 24, 2007, wildfire caused millions of dollars in damage and led to debate over wildfire evacuation policies.