A German national convicted of setting dozens of fires in Hollywood, West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley has lost his latest appeal.
In a ruling released late Thursday, a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected Harry Burkhart’s contention that Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli erred in rejecting his bid for a mental health diversion program that could have eventually resulted in the dismissal of the charges against him.
The appellate court panel noted the judge “considered extensive evidence that Burkhart suffered from multiple mental disorders in additional to borderline personality disorder” but found that he was motivated by his desire to seek retribution for his mother’s arrest and extradition by the United States.
“… Substantial evidence supports the court’s finding by clear and convincing evidence that Burkhart’s mental disorders were not motivating, causal, or contributing factors to Burkhart’s commission of the arsons,” the panel found. “Thus, the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Burkhart’s motion for mental health diversion.”
Burkhart, now 38, was convicted in September 2016 of 25 counts of arson of property, 18 counts of arson of an inhabited dwelling and two counts each of possession of an incendiary device, attempted arson and arson of a structure. The first jury to hear the case deadlocked on whether he was sane or insane at the time he committed the crimes.
The second jury to consider the issue of sanity found in 2018 that he was sane at the time of the crimes committed between Dec. 30, 2011, and Jan. 2, 2012.
The judge subsequently sentenced Burkhart to 33 years and four months in state prison.
Burkhart has filed a series of appellate court requests, with the case being sent back twice for a hearing on whether he was qualified for mental health diversion. The second hearing was ordered as a result of a change in state law that modified the standard for mental health diversion.
At Burkhart’s March 2018 sentencing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, the judge noted Burkhart had mental problems from a very young age. But Lomeli said he was convinced the defendant “indeed knew of his wrongdoing at the time he committed the crimes, legally and morally.”
Most of the blazes were started under vehicles parked in carports or near homes, but one vehicle was set on fire in the parking lot of a shopping center in Hollywood and another at a complex nearby on New Year’s Eve.
Three victims who had been impacted by the fires spoke at Burkhart’s sentencing.
“… If I had woken up 30 seconds later, I might not be here to speak,” Cynthia Cobb told the judge.
Another victim, Matthew King, said, “It was by nothing shy of the grace of God that no one was killed.”
Sarah Kramer — whose car was destroyed in one of the blazes — told the judge she was grateful she wasn’t inside as it burned.
“While it was an older-model car, it was still the best car I could ever own,” she said. “What an extremely selfish and vulgar expression this crime was … I’m still recovering from the setback all these years later.”
Deputy District Attorney James Falco called Burkhart’s arson spree “an act of domestic terrorism” and cited planning, preparation and “strategic placement of devices that literally almost cost people their lives.”
“He picked under the cover of darkness when the people are sleeping and most vulnerable and most susceptible to potential loss of life and he should not be rewarded for the fact that no one was seriously injured or killed,” the prosecutor said.
Burkhart’s trial attorney, Steve Schoenfield, told the judge he believed anyone involved in the case realizes that “Harry’s been under the complete domination and psychological control of his mother, Dorothee Burkhart,” who did not want her son to accept the judge’s earlier offer of a 23-year prison term.
The defense lawyer said he understood the danger, pain and anxiety the fires had caused.
“But for some reason nobody was hurt at all except financially and psychologically, and I think that means something in the end,” Burkhart’s attorney told the judge.
The defense lawyer told jurors Burkhart is mentally ill and developmentally disabled and has been hospitalized on numerous occasions for psychiatric illnesses, including once just four months before the arsons began, despite the defendant’s own protestations to authorities that he is not mentally ill.
Being separated from his mother after her arrest in the United States in connection with a fraud case against her in Germany “meant the whole world was going to come to an end” and resulted in a “perfect storm,” Schoenfield said, telling the panel setting the fires was “how he acted out.”
“It’s clear that what he did was irrational, lashing out at people that were not involved” in the criminal case involving his mother, the defense attorney said.
Deputy District Attorney Joy Roberts, who handled the case with Falco, countered that Burkhart knew the difference between right and wrong when he set more than 40 fires in less than a week.
The prosecutor said Burkhart’s “arson rampage” was spurred by a desire for revenge for his mother’s arrest, calling the attacks “methodical,” “premeditated” and “done under the cover of night” in areas where he could quickly set fires and then escape without being detected.
“The evidence will show he hated America,” Roberts told jurors. “He told his mother he wanted to roast America … Roasting America is exactly what he did.”
The arson spree began a day after Burkhart had an angry outburst in a federal courtroom while there to see his mother, Roberts said. The prosecutor told jurors the defendant was repeatedly seen on surveillance video buying supplies to start fires and did not show any signs of a psychotic break.